Only around 4,000 register with UN agency
by Taylor Luck | Feb 20,2012 | JORDAN TIMES
AMMAN — The number of Syrians who have fled to Jordan since the beginning of the crisis has surpassed 70,000, according to official sources, in the latest sign of the growing humanitarian impact of the ongoing violence north of the Kingdom’s border.
Over 78,000 Syrian nationals have crossed into Jordan since the launch of a military crackdown on peaceful protesters in March 2011, according to an official source, including 1,400 who crossed into the Kingdom “illegally” and 200 Syrians who returned to their home country.
Amidst the thousands of Syrians who have sought refuge in the Kingdom over the past year were 200 army defectors, including 10 senior officers, added the government source, which preferred to remain unnamed.
Despite witnessing a dramatic upswing in arrivals of Syrian nationals over the last year, Jordanian officials classify the vast majority as guests, stressing that the number of Syrians arriving in the country in need of financial and material assistance has not reached the level of a “refugee crisis”.
Amman has taken a series of precautionary measures — including the establishment of a refugee camp in Ribaa Sirhan near Mafraq and tasking the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO) to coordinate relief efforts — should the ongoing violence in Syria escalate and transform the steady trickle of displaced Syrians into a wider “humanitarian crisis”, according to the JHCO.
Meanwhile the number of Syrian refugees arriving in Jordan is on the rise, according to the UN, as international agencies prepare to increase assistance for the latest displaced population to make the Kingdom their temporary home.
According to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Jordan, over 3,800 Syrian nationals have registered with the agency, a figure officials admit is unrepresentative of the true number of Syrians in need, many of whom opt not to register with the agency out of fear from reprisal from their government, relying instead on assistance from local charity associations.
In this Tuesday, February 14 photo, a line of water tanks is seen at the site where authorities are building a camp for possible Syrian refugees in Mafraq, some 40 kilometres northeast ofAmman(AP photo)