US grants 30 mln dollar for Iraqi refugees' education

AMMAN, Aug 28 (Reuters) The United States today pledged 30 million dollar of emergency funds to help uprooted Iraqi children attend schools in neighbouring countries hosting families who have fled the war in Iraq.

US Assistant Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey said the money would contribute to a recent 9 million joint appeal by UN agencies to get some 155,000 young Iraqi refugees into the classroom for this school year.

''The United States believes the response to needs of displaced Iraqis is best addressed through a multilateral effort,'' Sauerbrey said during a tour of a Jordanian public school where Iraqi children enrol with no restrictions.

About 4 million of Iraq's 26 million people have either fled the country for Syria, Jordan and other nations or left their homes for safer havens within Iraq, according to aid agencies.

About 500,000 of those who fled are of school age and most have limited or no access to education in their host countries, which face economic problems of their own.

Syria says the Iraqi influx entails massive costs to its subsidies system and put strains on public services. Jordan says its 750,000 Iraqi refugees cost 1 billion dollar a year, stretching the resources of a country of just 5.6 million.

REUTERS LPB PM1822