Syria refugee crisis close to ‘overwhelming’

Jordan – The leader of the country’s arm of Caritas Internationalis has warned that the flow of refugees from Syria will overwhelm Jordan within four months.

Already struggling to cope with migrants from Iraq and Egypt, Caritas Jordan director Wael V. Suleiman said that 70,000 Syrians are now crossing the border every month and that within the next few months, the situation will be unsustainable.

"In the public sector there are around only 40 hospitals for at least three million Jordanian people and today we are talking about 500,000 Iraqi refugees, 900,000 Egyptians and 1.3 million Syrians and with limited medical services I think we are talking about a big problem for Jordan. I believe that even if today we can manage the situation I believe in the next three to four months it will be impossible to cover these medical services to the Syrian people.

Mr Suliman expressed the hope that Syrian peace talks now scheduled for Geneva in Switzerland in November will help in solving the refuges crisis.