Jordan opens first tent camp for Syrian refugees

142,000 Syrians seek refuge; 500 – 700 refugees to be allowed into camp after end of Ramadan fast Sunday night

29 July 2012, 3:28 pm

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People carry the body of 6-year-old Syrian boy Bilal El-Lababidi during his funeral in Ramtha, Jordan, Friday, July 27, 2012. The boy was shot dead by Syrian border guards, his mother said. (Photo credit: AP/Mohammad Hannon)

ZATAARI, Jordan (AP) — Jordan says it has opened its first tent camp for Syrians fleeing violence in their country, saying a surge of refugees forced it to do so.

Authorities had been reluctant to set up the camps, possibly to avoid angering Syrian President Bashar Assad’s autocratic regime by concentrating images of civilians fleeing his military onslaught.

But with 142,000 Syrians seeking refuge and their numbers growing daily by up to 2,000, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said Sunday that Jordan had no other choice. He spoke at the camp’s opening ceremony in the hamlet of Zataari, about 11 kilometers (7 miles) from the northern border with Syria.

About of 500-700 refugees will be admitted to the camp after breaking the Ramadan fast later Sunday, the UNHCR representative to Jordan Andrew Harper said.