(MENAFN- Jordan Times) Jordan has called on the international community to up its humanitarian support for Syrian refugees fleeing into the country in "record numbers".
According to Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications and Government Spokesperson Samih Maaytah, Amman has lobbied the international community to boost its humanitarian services in the face of a Syrian refugee influx which has surpassed some 2,000 persons per day, including the arrival of 2,300 Syrians on Friday, the single largest number of daily arrivals since the outbreak of the 17-month-old conflict.
"Each day the number of Syrians entering Jordan is growing and growing and our resources remain the same," Maaytah said.
"We call on the international community to come forward with a clear commitment and a coordinated programme to help Jordan meet the needs of Syrian refugees."
Although Maaytah indicated that Amman has not set a fixed amount in its aid appeal, the current level of assistance is falling "well short" of the amount needed to meet the needs of the 160,000-strong refugee community.
According to the UN and the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation, an ongoing funding shortfall is hindering efforts to improve living conditions in the Zaatari Refugee Camp, where some 10,000 Syrians live in a collection of tents on the desert outskirts of the border city of Mafraq.
The UN Refugee Agency has reported that it has yet to secure half of the $190 million aid appeal launched earlier this year to support countries hosting an estimated 190,000 Syrian refugees.
Meanwhile, officials are bracing for a "mass exodus" of Syrians into Jordan this week, as intensified fighting between regime and rebel forces in Damascus and Aleppo continues to drive hundreds of families into the border region.
According to Syrian activists, some 1,000 families are currently stranded in southern Syria, awaiting a breakthrough in a military blockade to cross into Jordan.
"More and more families are fleeing to the south to cross into Jordan, but they just can't make it through the border," said Abu Mohammed, a Syrian activist currently residing in Jordan.
"Once a window of opportunity breaks, we are going to try to get all of them into Jordan."
Jordanian security services confirmed the presence of "hundreds" of Syrian families in the border region, predicting the "largest ever" crossing of refugees into Jordan should activists find a break in the blockade.
The spike in new arrivals comes amid a Syrian military crackdown which activists claim aims to prevent the ongoing defection of regime officials.
The campaign, imposed one day after the high-profile defection of former Syrian prime minister Riad Hijab, has led to the shelling of "hundreds" of suspected rebel safe houses along the border region and closed many traditional smuggling routes, activists say.
The issue of refugees has become a growing point of contention between Amman and Damascus, which objects to Jordan's ongoing policy of granting refuge to defectors and rebel activists.
In a bid to stem the growing number of defections to Jordan, Damascus has implemented a policy of opening fire on refugees crossing into the Kingdom, a development that has escalated tensions in the border region and triggered a series of firefights between Jordanian and Syrian forces.
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