(MENAFN- Jordan Times) A Syrian national attempted suicide in northern Jordan on Tuesday, officials say, in an alleged protest over living conditions in a holding facility some describe as "deplorable".
According to a security source, a 16-year-old refugee currently residing at Cyber City, a holding facility in the border city of Ramtha, attempted to shoot himself in an apparent protest over living conditions inside the centre.
Security services transported the teenager to a Ramtha hospital for treatment, where he is in fair condition, according to the source.
According to Yousef Abu Ahmed, a 63-year-old Cyber City resident from Damascus, the teenager wrested a firearm from one of the camp's guards and shot himself to draw attention to the "deplorable" conditions within the holding facility, which authorities opened earlier this month to confront an ongoing rise in the number of Syrians crossing into the country illegally.
Under current regulations, all Syrians who arrive in the Kingdom illegally are placed in so-called holding facilities to undergo extensive background checks, with their release depending on a JD5,000 legal guarantee signed by a Jordanian national.
However, the bulk of Cyber City's some 700 residents are of Palestinian origin and due to current interior ministry regulations are barred from leaving the complex, according to security sources and relief agencies.
Tuesday's suicide attempt marks the second by a Cyber City resident in less than a week.
"Our lives are completely on hold, we have no idea when or if we will ever be able to see our relatives again," Abu Hamzah, a Cyber City resident, told The Jordan Times over the phone.
"If we aren't allowed to leave soon, there will be many more suicide attempts," he warned.
In previous statements to the Jordan Times, Cyber City residents said the centre's facilities were a vast improvement over the so-called Bashabsheh housing complex - a previous facility that lacked basic services and was prone to overcrowding.
The new centre includes private rooms, recreational facilities and a permanent clinic providing primary healthcare services.
However, with the arrival of warm summer weather and a spike in new arrivals, residents claim conditions in the complex are "deteriorating".
Despite an ongoing flow of refugees that officials say is placing a strain on the Kingdom's water, health and educational services, Jordan continues to follow an open-border policy, having received over 115,000 Syrians since March 2011.
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