U.N.: 300 Flee Syria for Turkey in One Night
About 300 people fled from Syria into Turkey overnight, amid guarantees by Ankara to keep the border open to refugees, the U.N.'s refugee agency said on Wednesday.
"I can confirm we not only have assurances from the Turkish authorities that borders remain open for Syrians fleeing the violence, but also we know that around 300 people crossed last night," said Sybella Wilkes, spokeswoman for the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Refugees.
She said that "we really appreciate" Turkey keeping its borders open to people escaping the violence in Syria, after Ankara closed the border to its own nationals wanting to travel to Syria, citing security reasons.
Turkey already shelters around 44,000 Syrians in 10 camps, according to UNHCR figures.
Turkey maintains seven border posts along its 877-kilometer (545 mile) border with Syria, where last week opposition fighters overran two Syrian frontier posts.
Up to 1,300 refugees a day also flee Syria for Jordan, Wilkes said, up from 700 people recently. Most commonly the refugees crossed the border at night, she added.
The refugee agency is building new facilities for 120,000 people in Jordan and hoped to open its doors there within 48 hours, Wilkes said.
To date, more than 19,000 people have been killed in fighting in the uprising against Syria's President Bashar Assad, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Source: Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/47790 |