No longer vulnerable to bombings, gunfire and mortar attacks in their homeland, Syrian refugees in Jordan's new tent camp now face a new challenge: snakes, scorpions and dust storms.
Some contend that's not much of an improvement.
"Death camp," says the sign in Arabic stuck on a white tent bearing the U.N. refugee agency's blue emblem.
"In Syria, it's a quick death," explained a refugee who gave his name as Abu Sami, as he and other Syrians gathered to protest the conditions at Jordan's first tent camp for Syrians fleeing the civil war.
"But here in Zataari camp, it's a slow death for us all," said the 30-year-old former taxi driver from Daraa, where the Syrian revolution ignited 17 months ago demanding President Bashar Assad's ouster. "We escaped shelling and bombardment of our homes and now face this torment."
Jordan says sudden surges in refugees filled all available housing in its communities along the tree-lined frontier, forcing it to hastily build this tent city some 11 kilometers (seven miles) south of the Syrian border. Jordan has absorbed more than 150,000 Syrians seeking shelter over the past year.
Until recently, clans that straddle the border took in some of the Syrians, and aid groups arranged for other refugees to share housing. For months, authorities appeared reluctant to set up the camp, possibly to avoid angering Assad's autocratic regime with images of large numbers of civilians fleeing his military onslaught.
AP
They have also been concerned by signs that Assad's regime was trying to extend its crackdown into Jordan itself. Both Jordanian officials and the Syrian refugees believe Syrian regime agents are operating in the kingdom on a campaign to hunt down opponents, particularly activists, and intimidate those who have fled.
Refugees who once stayed in an apartment complex used as an initial processing center and owned by a Jordanian businessman reported two attempts earlier this year to poison their water supply.
The complex had to be abandoned after security officials arrested a man in June for trying to plant a bomb under the car of the Jordanian owner of the complex, Nidal Bashabsheh, who had been actively helping Syrian refugees.
Late last month, a 6-year-old Syrian boy was shot and killed by the Syrian military as he made the treacherous bordering crossing with his family.
But as fighting rages in Syria's two largest cities, Aleppo and Damascus, an increasing number of Syrians are fleeing here and to other neighboring countries. On Saturday night alone, a reported 4,000 Syrians arrived in Jordan.
To accommodate them, the Zataari camp opened July 29 on this desolate desert plain, where some 3,300 displaced Syrians now put up with torrid heat by day and chilling cold at night. The Jordanian government runs the camp and provides food and other provisions, while the U.N. helped set it up with tents, blankets and other supplies.
Unrelenting dust-laden winds whip through the camp, covering everything and everyone in sight with a coating of fine orange particles. Most people say they can neither breathe easily nor stay relatively clean and healthy.
Um Nadia, a 26-year-old pregnant mother of two toddlers, suffers from pre-existing asthma and worries for her health and that of her family. "Listen to my voice. I'm suffering. I'm constantly coughing," she said.
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