Thousands of Syrian Protesters Voice Solidarity with Refugees

Despite severe wintry conditions, thousands of Syrians gathered across the country for Friday demonstrations denouncing the "death camps", an allusion to the suffering of refugees living in tent settlements in neighboring countries, which this week were hit by snowstorms and floods.

The U.N. said that 612,134 Syrians had been registered as refugees in the region or were in the process of being registered, a sharp rise from the 509,550 announced on December 11.

"They left with their wives and children fearing kidnappings, bombings and snipers. They dreamed of a tent safely away from the gangs of Assad, but instead were met with a slow death," activists wrote on the Facebook page Syrian Revolution 2011.

In the central province of Hama, protesters carried a sign that read: "Bashar, even if you offered us the sun and the moon, we will not give up our revolution!"