Special to WorldTribune.com

AMMAN — Jordan has opened a massive Syrian refugee camp deep in the desert.

The United Nations has overseen a Jordanian tent city that could house up to 130,000 people who were fleeing the war in neighboring Syria.

Camp Azraq, expected to be the largest of Syrian refugee facilities, is located
in the northwestern desert of the Hashemite kingdom.

“Camp Azraq, which will be run by Jordanian authorities with the support
of UNHCR, will help relieve pressure on the Zaatri camp, located some 80
kilometers to the northwest,” the United Nations said.

Azraq, the sixth refugee facility, was opened on April 30 and said to be
up to four times larger than Zaatari, which houses 100,000 Syrians. The UN said Zaatari would no longer be able to accommodate additional refugees.

“It took a good year of planning with the government and other UN agencies and partners,” Ali Bibi, spokesman for the UN High Commission of Refugees in Jordan, said.

About 600,000 Syrians have registered as refugees in Jordan since the
Sunni revolt against President Bashar Assad in 2011. The UN said 80 percent
of the Syrians have been living in communities throughout the kingdom.
Western diplomats said the actual Syrian refugee population in Jordan
reached 1.3 million.

Officials said Azraq, designed by Western specialists, costs $63.5
million and spans 15 kilometers. They said new Syrian refugees, who arrive
at a rate of 600 per day, would be directed to the camp.

“The overall size of Azraq is almost three or four times larger than
Zaatri camp,” Bibi said. “So the capabilities [were] provided to make sure
the infrastructure in place, whether it was water, electricity, shelters.”

  000 from Syria, 000 Syrian refugees, Camp Azraq, Refugee city: Jordan opens desert camp to house 130, UNHCR, Zaatri camp