Jordan FM and US ambassador to Jordan visit Syrian refugee camp

Jordan's foreign minister said on Monday his country wants to provide Syrian refugees with "every comfort possible", as he toured Zataari refugee camp, the first to be officially opened in Jordan.

According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), more than 2500 Syrians were admitted to the camp in Mafraq city on Sunday, which is about 11 kilometers (7 miles) from the northern border with Syria.The camp was opened weeks after the UNHCR appealed to Jordan to make more room to meet the surge in the cross-border flow.Jordan issued its own appeal to the international community for financial assistance to help the growing number of refugees.

The US ambassador to Jordan, who also toured the camp on Monday, said his country had contributed 11 million dollars in aid.

The first phase of the camp's development will include 3,000 tents leaving it ready to host between 3,000 to 5,000 Syrian refugees.In later phases, the camp will be expanded to host as many as 113,000 people.Living conditions at the Zataari camp, which is located in the desert, are harsh, with searing temperatures and a shortage of drinking water and electricity.

"The situation here is very bad, a lot of dust, the weather is very hot, children can't bear the heat inside tents," one of the refugees, Um Yousef, said.More than 200,000 Syrians have fled to neighboring Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey and hundreds of thousands more are displaced within Syria.Jordan is also hosting thousands of refugees from neighboring Iraq.

APTN