Syrian refugees in Jordan ‘top 470,000 mark’
01-04-2013 12:00 AM
Ammon News - by Taylor Luck | The Jordan Times
AMMAN/MAFRAQ — Hundreds of Syrians fled to Jordan on Sunday, pushing the total number of refugees in the country to over 470,500.
According to the Jordan Armed Forces, over 1,200 Syrians crossed into Jordan late Saturday and early Sunday, pushing the total number of new arrivals over the past 72 hours to 4,500 and the total number of refuges into the country to over 470,500.
Some 110 injured Syrians were among Sunday’s influx, security sources said, most of whom were taken to public hospitals in the border cities of Mafraq and Ramtha for treatment.
Sunday’s influx came as fighting waged across southern Syria, with Jordanian security sources and Free Syrian Army sources reporting clashes and heavy shelling in the border villages of Naameh, Shajarah and Sheikh Maskeen.
Syrian rebel sources say the spike in violence is part of a renewed offensive by Damascus to push back recent rebel gains across the border region, which have included several key army posts and Syria’s main crossing point into Jordan.
Meanwhile, Jordanian and international relief officials accelerated efforts to break ground on the country’s third Syrian camp.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, local authorities are completing infrastructure work on the desert camp on the outskirts of the eastern city of Azraq, which is set to host over 70,000 refugees.
The efforts are aimed at relieving pressure on the country’s main Syrian camp, the Zaatari, which currently hosts some 146,000 Syrians — well beyond its 100,000 maximum capacity.
A spike in violence across Syria since the beginning of the year has pushed the influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan to over 70,000 a month, a pace UN officials say requires the opening of a new refugee camp every 30 days.