Britain's Prince William arrived in the Jordanian capital on Sunday, kicking off a five-day visit to the Middle East that will also take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
William was welcomed at Marka airport in north-eastern Amman by Jordan's Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah. On the first of his two days in Jordan, he is scheduled to visit Fablab, an initiative by the Crown Prince Foundation to support young entrepreneurs.
On Monday, the Duke of Cambridge is set to visit the city of Jerash, around 48 kilometres north of Amman, and meet young Jordanians and Syrian refugees as part of a programme supported by the United Nations agency for children Unicef. The programme, Makani, provides the children with educational services and psycho-social support.
Jordan officially hosts around 650,000 refugees from Syria, but estimates that include unregistered refugees suggest the total is as high as 1.2 million.
Prince William is scheduled to meet British forces based in the kingdom before visiting Al Quds school, which offers technical and vocational training for young Jordanian and Syrian refugee students.
He will meet students undergoing training in media, film and animation production.
William will then travel on to Israel and the Palestinian territories for the rest of his trip, embarking on the first official visit to the Palestinian territories by a British royal on behalf of the government. He is scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Kensington Palace described the high-profile visit as "non-political," though it comes at a time of heightened tensions in the region. Last month, the United States moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a city contested by both the Israelis and the Palestinians, and dozens of Palestinians have died from Israeli gunfire during protests against the move.
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