Jordan Opens First Camp For Syrian Refugees
The Syrian army killed Sunday two men who tried to cross into neighboring Jordan, according to a Jordanian organization, while the kingdom officially opened its first camp to house Syrian refugees. “At least two men were killed early this morning while trying to cross the border into the kingdom. We try to identify their nationalities because they are not Syrians,” conveyed Hammad Zayed, President of the Islamic charity Kitab wal Sunna, which helps more than 50,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan.
“The Syrian army ambushes all those trying to flee to Jordan,” he stated, adding that some 5,000 Syrians found refuge in the Hashemite Kingdom in the past three days.
Meanwhile in Mafraq, near the Syrian border, the Jordanian Foreign Minister, Nasser Jawdeh, and Interior Minister, Ghaleb Zoubi, inaugurated the new Zaatari camp that can accommodate up to 120,000 refugees. “We do our best to ensure the safety of refugees while seeking at the same time a political solution to end the bloodshed in Syria,” said Jawdeh. He said more than 142,000 Syrians are now in Jordan, about 36,000 are registered with the UN as refugees. Most Syrians fleeing violence in their country are welcomed in Jordan by relatives living in the northern part of the country.
According to Mr. Hammad a first group of 500 refugees living in a residential complex guarded by the army near the border town of Ramtha will be transferred to the Zaatari camp. On Friday, a Syrian child of three years old was shot by Syrian troops as he tried to flee with his family to Jordan. A Jordanian soldier was injured in the incident, said Hammad.
