“Right now, all we can do is prepare to provide assistance to those who have suffered from this tragedy, which will truly be a turning point for the Syrian crisis,” said Andrew Harper, the UN Refugee Agency Representative in Jordan.
According to Harper, relief agencies and Jordanian officials aim to open the country’s third refugee camp, an 80,000-capacity facility near the eastern city of Azraq, by early September.
Activists say the overnight exodus of displaced families is placing growing strains on under-siege border towns and villages, warning of a “humanitarian catastrophe” should international aid agencies fail to deliver essential aid to the thousands fleeing the chemical attacks.
The violence continued to reduce the refugee inflow into Jordan to a trickle, with the Jordan Armed Forces reporting some 90 crossings on Thursday.
Jordan has opened its borders over 560,000 Syrians since the onset of the conflict in March 2011.
