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ZAATARI REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan (AP) — Aid groups have opened an employment center in a sprawling refugee camp in Jordan to provide more work permits for Syrians who have fled civil war.
Less than 3 percent of the 80,000 Syrians living in the Zaatari Refugee Camp are allowed to work in Jordan, which is struggling to cope with some 700,000 refugees.
Hundreds of Syrians lined up outside a two-room trailer on Tuesday. U.N. staff will vet the refugees and try to place them with local employers based on their skills.
Maha Kattaa, a coordinator with the U.N.'s International Labor Organization, said 836 work permits have been issued over the past month, mostly for agricultural work.
Stefano Severe, the head of the U.N. refugee agency in Jordan, says similar centers will open up across Jordan
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