(Image: Mandel Ngan/AP/Press Association Images)

THIS is now Jordan’s fourth-biggest city. In just one year, the population of Zaatari refugee camp has grown from almost nothing to more than 140,000 – and nearly all of the residents are refugees from neighbouring Syria. Since the uprising began in 2011, some 1.6 million Syrians have fled the country.

With about 1000 people arriving every day, Zaatari, 8 kilometres from the border between Jordan and Syria, is one of the largest refugee camps in the world, second only to Dadaab in eastern Kenya. The latest satellite images from the UN Refugee Agency (below) show that the 532 hectare camp contains more than 27,000 shelters. The main street, known as the Champs-Élysées, has 3000 shops and the camp also contains hospitals, schools and even soccer fields.

(Image: Digital Globe/Getty)


But life here is no picnic, as UN special envoy Angelina Jolie reported when she visited in June. There has been rioting and prostitution, and the camp is reportedly a reservoir for young men who choose to return across the border and join the Free Syrian Army.

What was supposed to be temporary accommodation is now looking more permanent.

This article appeared in print under the headline “Escape from Syria”