(MENAFN- Jordan Times) Prime Minister Fayez Tarawneh on Wednesday said the government will repatriate Syrian refugees responsible for the Tuesday riots in the Zaatari Refugee Camp to "where they came from".
Tarawneh noted that the riots were ignited by a small number of camp residents, stressing that the government and the concerned authorities will "not be lenient" with the perpetrators and will not accept their return to Jordan "because we are a country governed by law".
"We only host refugees out of a humane perspective and will not allow anyone to break the law," the premier said in statements to the press after a meeting with security apparatuses and entities concerned with Syrian refugees in Mafraq, 80km northeast of Amman.
Meanwhile, Government Spokesperson Samih Maaytah said 200 Syrian refugees were repatriated on Wednesday upon their request, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. Maaytah said the decision was taken on the backdrop of the riots that took place on Tuesday night in the Zaatari camp, which is home to more than 22,000 refugees.
More than 20 security officers were injured in Tuesday's riots, which followed a march by around 200 Syrian refugees to protest against the camp's "poor conditions".
The Public Security Department (PSD) said in a statement late Tuesday that some protesters attacked security and camp personnel with stones, injuring some PSD and Gendarmerie Forces.
Tarawneh, along with Interior Minister Ghaleb Zu'bi, also checked on two members of the Gendarmerie who were injured in the riots.
One of the injured sustained a fracture in his skull, while the second suffered several bruises.
Most of the injured Gendarmerie personnel were discharged from hospital after receiving treatment.
The premier stressed that Jordan's moral duty towards "brotherly Arabs" does not entail "under any circumstances" that the government will show leniency when it comes to illegal actions.
"As the law applies to all Jordanians it also applies to all non-Jordanians," he said.
Tarawneh added that the large number of Syrian refugees who flee to Jordan require huge efforts to organise the process, noting that the Zaatari camp only accommodates a fraction of the Syrians who are residing in the country.
Jordan is currently finalising preparations for another refugee camp in the Ribaa Sirhan region near the Jordanian-Syrian border, a planned facility with a 20,000-person capacity.
Tarawneh added that each refugee camp will have a control centre and that the government will look for new locations for camps, noting that there will also be a "tight security grip" inside these facilities to ensure that no one enters and leaves without security approval.
"The government, in cooperation with concerned organisations, will do all it can to improve the services provided to Syrians inside the camps," he said, adding that the Cabinet will discuss issues related to providing the refugees with education.
The premier reiterated Jordan's commitment to provide assistance to the Syrians, despite the pressure it places on the Kingdom's resources, especially water.
"Providing assistance to Syrians will not have any impact on the quality of services provided to Jordanians," the prime minister highlighted.
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