The Jordanian foreign minister has said the country will not accept more refugees as fighting intensifies in southern Syria.
Jordan's Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, says his country will not receive more refugees as the fighting intensified between government forces and rebels in southern Syria amid concerns of a major refugee crisis. "Jordan has carried out its humanitarian role towards the Syrian brothers fully and taken more than it can handle in receiving refugees and caring for them. But the kingdom will no more bare the brunt of escalation in the south or receive more,'' he tweeted.
Safadi also called on the international community to ''work on ending deterioration and deal with consequences'' of fighting. ''We demand respect to the de-escalation agreement in the south, and warn against grave consequences of violence against the Syrian people,'' he added.
650,000 registered Syrian refugees
Some 650,000 Syrian refugees have registered with the United Nations in Jordan since fleeing their country's seven-year war, which was sparked by peaceful anti-government protests in 2011. Amman estimates the actual number is closer to 1.3 million people and says it has spent more than $10 billion (8.5 billion euros) hosting them.
The UN has warned that escalating violence in Syria's South could have dangerous repercussions for the estimated 750,000 civilians in the rebel-held area. Southern Syria is a strategically vital zone: it borders both Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and also lies close to Damascus.
Government forces trying to oust rebels from Laja, say rebels
Meanwhile, rebel sources told ANSA that fighting has taken a new twist in the north-eastern area of Laja as the government forces moved to flush out rebels from the desert region. The Syrian government is moving forward under protection of Russian jet fighters according to rebel activists. Refugees who fled the targeted towns have been moving into farmlands and near the Jordanian borders, said a rebel activist from Deraa.
The Syrian government and its allies have moved a large number of soldiers and military equipment to the south in an attempt to take over Deraa and its surrounding region, one of the last few areas that remain under rebel control after seven years of fighting.