Amman – Jordan’s Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury said on Monday that his country has hit the limit of its ability to host Syrian refugees.

“Jordan has reached the limit of its capacity to cope with the burden of hosting Syrian refugees,” Fakhoury said in a statement following a meeting with visiting US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

Fakhoury discussed with Haley on Monday bilateral cooperation and challenges facing Jordan in the light of crises in the region. The two officials highlighted the “distinguished” relationship between Jordan and the US at all levels.

The Jordanian minister underlined “continuous” US support to Jordan, which reflected on the Kingdom’s development process and ability to turn “challenges into opportunities”.

On the refugee issue, Fakhoury called on the international community to increase its assistance and grants to Jordan to meet its priorities outlined in the 2017-2019 Response Plan, according to a governmental statement.

Haley, for her part, expressed the United States’ appreciation for the “pivotal” role assumed by Jordan, under the leadership of King Abdullah II, as well as the political and economic reforms that “have made the Kingdom a role model in the region.”

She also highlighted her country’s understanding of the burdens the Kingdom is enduring in light of the huge influx of Syrian refugees and its effects on the national economy, according to the statement.

On Sunday, Haley visited Jordan’s Zaatari camp which hosts some 80,000 refugees displaced by the conflict in neighboring Syria.

The UN refugee agency says it has registered more than 680,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan.

Amman says it hosts some 1.3 million Syrians at a cost of some $6.6 billion (5.9 billion euros) since the war broke out in 2011.