US defunding of Palestinian refugee agency creates crisis for Jordan

Although never great with numbers, Ahmed Ibrahim says every day he sees the impact of a budget deficit on his home.

Here, in Zarqa Camp, where more than 25,000 people live on one-tenth of a square mile, he says life is changing.

Because of staff shortages at the local UNRWA health clinic, Mr. Ibrahim must now wait up to six hours to see a nurse for his chronic cough – often times he is only seen for a total of three minutes. There are few other options. He, along with 68 percent of camp residents, are uninsured.

Trash in front of his home and across the camp has been piling up since March, when UNRWA, the UN relief agency administering to Palestinian refugees, was forced to lay off most of