The United Nations announced on Tuesday that the number of fleeing Syrian’s who have been registered as refugees in neighbouring countries has now reached more than 700,000. Camps are bursting at the seems and aid workers are struggling to cope with he mass exodus, says the UN.
“We have seen an unrelenting flow of refugees across all borders. We are running double shifts to register people,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokeswoman Sybella Wilkes told Reuters.
UNHCR figures show that a total of 705,000 Syrians had registered as refugees as of January 27th. Here is the breakdown of where they have gone:
- Jordon: 167,444 + 51,729 awaiting processing
- Lebanon: 157,139 + 69 awaiting processing
- Turkey: 163,161
- Iraq: 77,415
- Egypt: 14,312
Jordon Overwhelmed
The number of refugees crossing the border from southern Syria in Jordon has dramatically accelerated in 2013, leaving the country’s camps struggling to cope. In the past week alone a wave of 21,000 people have flooded over the border – about five times the usual rate.
“We were expecting larger numbers in the new year, but not the 3,000 a day that have been coming across to Zaatari camp,” said UNICEF representative to Jordan, Dominque Hyde.
The huge numbers have left the Zaatari camp struggling to provide basic supplies and suffering from flooding and tent fires as a result of overcrowding.
