The Minister for Development Cooperation Christian Friis Bach yesterday visited the refugee camp Za’atari, situated in the Northern part of Jordan close to the Syrian border.

Following the visit, the Development Minister stated: "It is deeply sad to hear the desperate stories of the Syrian refugees, to feel their fear, their frustration and deep concern for their families and friends inside Syria. Help is needed, so the Danish government has decided to increase our humanitarian contribution by an additional 4.4 mio. USD to a total Danish contribution of more than 17 million USD (DKK 100 million) given through the UN and through local and international civil society organisations struggling to provide humanitarian relief. This contribution will place Denmark amongst the top 5-6 bilateral donors, and we do this to help and to show that we remember the victims from the conflict in Syria."

The Za’atari camp, which is being massively expanded in order to be able to receive the increasing flow of Syrians escaping from the fighting in Syria, is planned to accommodate more than 80,000 refugees. Currently, the camp is housing more than 28,000 Syrians.

According to the UN, there are 80,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey, 83,000 in Jordan, 66,000 in Lebanon, and 22,000 in Iraq. In addition to this, the Jordanian authorities report that another 150,000 refugees are accommodated all over the countries with friends and family. The number of refugees is expected to increase in the coming days and weeks, which will add additional and significant burdens to the host countries.