AMMAN, Jordan — Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson arrived in the Jordanian capital Friday afternoon with plans to tour two Syrian refu­gee camps over the next day, according to several people familiar with the trip.

Carson touched down about 4:20 p.m. local time, according to the individuals, who spoke on background because they are not authorized to speak to the media. Carson is accompanied by two people described as journalists making a video of the visit, they said. He is scheduled to return to the United States on Sunday.

Carson “and a small group” are in Jordan “fact-finding, listening, learning and meeting,” a campaign official wrote in an e-mail Friday. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly, said no public or media events are planned.

Carson was not invited by the Jordanian government, and no official meetings are scheduled. However, the government and the U.S. Embassy in Amman were informed of the trip this week, the individuals familiar with the trip said.

The trip comes as Carson has faced harsh criticism about his lack of foreign policy expertise — as well as his strong stance against admitting Muslim refugees, some of whom he described as “mad dogs,” into the United States. It also comes veiled in secrecy and uncertainty about his purpose and his schedule. There has been discussion of a possible visit to Queen Rania Hospital for Children in Amman.

The trip, which was not disclosed to the media in advance, may be intended to give the retired neurosurgeon some credibility on issues that have become increasingly important after the terrorist attacks in Paris — foreign policy and national security. It could also help him politically with Christian evangelical voters concerned with the ongoing refugee crisis in the region.

“I find when you have firsthand knowledge of things, as opposed to secondhand, it makes a much stronger impression,” Carson said Thursday to the New York Times, which first reported the trip. “I want to hear some of their stories. I want to hear from some of the officials what their perspective is. All of that is extraordinarily useful in terms of formulating an opinion of how to actually solve the problem.”

An official familiar with the administration of one of the refu­gee camps, the Azraq Camp, said the facility had received no notification. Representatives of the Secret Service, which has assigned a detail to Carson, declined to say whether the agency was aware of the trip. And the U.S. Embassy in Amman denied any knowledge of the trip’s details.

Carson will visit the Azraq and Zaatari refu­gee camps Saturday, according to multiple people with knowledge of the trip.

According to the U.N. refu­gee agency, the Zaatari Camp, about 40 miles northeast of Amman, was home to more than 79,000 refugees as of Nov. 17. The Azraq camp, about 60 miles east of Amman, was home to more than 27,000 refugees as of the same day.

Foreign policy has taken center stage after the terrorist bloodshed of Nov. 13 in Paris, which renewed fears that the United States could become a target.

Carson’s support has declined since the Paris attacks, as he has fallen to third place in recent polls of voters in Iowa, where he was previously vying for first place against front-runner Donald Trump. Carson remains in second place in most national polls, but his lead over Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) has begun to close.

The retired surgeon’s loss of support follows comments by critics and supporters that have cast him in an unflattering light regarding his grasp of foreign policy.

Carson adviser Duane Clarridge, in an interview last week with the Times, said, “Nobody has been able to sit down with him and have him get one iota of intelligent information about the Middle East.”

Clarridge is a former senior CIA operations officer who after his retirement more than two decades ago began a private espionage firm that has been active in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Meanwhile, prominent conservative voices, such as radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh and Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer, have publicly stated they do not believe Carson is ready to lead on foreign policy.

“Carson is now hurt with the renewed interest after Paris, because he clearly doesn’t know anything about foreign policy, which can be a liability if you’re running for the presidency,” Krauthammer said Tuesday on Fox News.