Jordan records 12 000 refugees in 6 days
2013-01-22 15:01
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Syria
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Amman - More than 12 000 Syrians, mostly women and
children, have sought refuge in Jordan in the past six days to escape the war
in their homeland, the government said on Tuesday.
Some 25 000 Syrians have entered Jordan since the
beginning of the year, Anmar Hmud, a government spokesperson for refugee
affairs told AFP.
"More than 12 000 Syrians have fled to Jordan in the
past six days. The majority of them were children and women," Hmud said.
"Since the beginning of this year, some 25 000
Syrians have entered the country."
Jordan says it is hosting more than 300 000 Syrian
refugees, while the UN refugee agency says 176 000 of them are
UNHCR-registered.
The UN has predicted that the number of Syrian refugees
in neighbouring countries will double to 1.1 million by June if the civil war
in Syria does not end.
More than 60 000 people have been killed in the Syrian
conflict which erupted in March 2011.
- SAPA
