France to deploy military medics to help Syrian refugees in Jordan

France will immediately deploy military surgeons and medics to Jordan’s border with Syria to help care for a flood of Syrian refugees, President Francois Hollande’s office said Monday. The decision to deploy the medical team was made with the full consent of the Jordanian authorities, Hollande’s office said, adding that the team would establish its medical facilities by the end of the week. “The military doctors and surgeons, augmented by civilians, are going to help combat victims and refugees who are currently fleeing Syria’s conflcit zone,” a statement said. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will visit Jordan on August 15, the communiqué said. Several hundred thousand Syrian refugees have sought shelter in neighbouring countries, including 120,000 who are registered with the United Nations refugee agency. In addition, a million or so Syrians are internally displaced, the president’s office said. The statement said the deployment of military doctors was in addition to diplomatic moves to “end the abuses” of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime. The main opposition coalition the Syrian National Council on Monday urged supporters to provide humanitarian aid to networks of local activists, saying such assistance is otherwise being diverted by Assad’s regime. From jordantimes.