Thousands of Syrian refugees have been left trapped and facing death by Jordan’s decision to close its border, medics have warned.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says it has been forced to close its clinic at the Zaatari refugee camp because patients were not being allowed through for treatment, despite reports of at least 70 war casualties including 16 children in need of life-saving surgery.

The hospital provided care for refugees recovering from operations but medical evacuations from neighbouring Syria stopped when Jordan closed its border in June, leaving its wards to gradually empty.

Jordan unlikely to open its doors to more refugees

Marjan Besuijen, MSF’s project coordinator in Zaatari, said: “Knowing that there are probably patients dying just a few kilometres away on the other side of the border because of lack of access to essential medical care is shameful.

“The wards inside the Zaatari clinic are silent, no longer filled with conversations or laughter.

“But this is not because the violence in Syria has diminished in any way, nor that there are no wounded in need of medical treatment.

“This is solely due to a physical barrier depriving those desperately in need of lifesaving medical care from receiving it.”

MSF continues to run a hospital in the Jordanian city of Ramtha, which has a border crossing leading to the Syrian rebel stronghold of Daraa, although the charity warned that it too may be forced to close.

In pictures: Syria conflict - Inside the Zaatari refugee camp Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: Syria conflict - Inside the Zaatari refugee camp In pictures: Syria conflict - Inside the Zaatari refugee camp zaatari-11.jpg One girl I met today told me that she had heard about the potential military intervention in Syria on the radio. She was worried about ordinary people saying: I don't think any real action will be taken and even if they did it will be so bad for the Syrian people because a lot of civilians will be killed because of it' ActionAid In pictures: Syria conflict - Inside the Zaatari refugee camp zatari-14.jpg The most dignified and accountable way to carry out an aid distribution is to involve refugees. Refugees told us that they wanted to help injured people while waiting for paramedics. First aid training was a big priority for them. Today we are distributing first aid kits to refugees who completed a first aid course run by ActionAid. The kits range from tweezers and disposable latex gloves to disinfectant, steriliser, scissors and face masks. ActionAid In pictures: Syria conflict - Inside the Zaatari refugee camp zatari-17.jpg Right now my team and I are preparing for increased numbers of refugees. There will be challenges with this. Already scant resources are being stretched to the limit. ActionAid is scaling up its response in Jordan to meet the needs of increasing numbers of refugees but more help is needed. ActionAid In pictures: Syria conflict - Inside the Zaatari refugee camp zaatari-15.jpg We often spend more than seven hours a day with the refugees and become very close. A man surprised me by telling me he had named his new baby girl after me. During one distribution I asked a woman to try a shoe size and discovered she had an artificial leg. I was embarrassed, but she smiled and reassured me saying, I can still use it. ActionAid In pictures: Syria conflict - Inside the Zaatari refugee camp zaatari-16.jpg I'm Syrian which really helps my work with Syrian refugees, as we come from the same social environment and I love doing humanitarian work. Previously I worked with Palestinian refugees. When I moved to Jordan I started working for ActionAid because I like its approach. It's very participatory, involving the refugees at every stage. It helps retain people¹s sense of dignity. We are always present on the ground and deal with the refugees personally. ActionAid In pictures: Syria conflict - Inside the Zaatari refugee camp zaatari-13.jpg I start early every morning. Before heading to a refugee camp my team prepares so that each field worker knows their task. ActionAid has formed committees of refugees to help manage the aid distribution and beforehand we inform the committee leader that we are coming. A team of volunteers help by distributing vouchers. We concentrate on women and each voucher contains 30 points that allows them to choose what they want. ActionAid In pictures: Syria conflict - Inside the Zaatari refugee camp zaatari-12.jpg I like that moment when a child comes to me smiling. It's very emotional. One of my saddest moments as an aid worker was when I heard that a 12-year-old boy ­ an active and courageous kid in the camp - was forced by his father to leave school to work as shepherd because the family needed money. It was difficult for me and the entire team as we worked really worked hard to convince him to go back to school. ActionAid In pictures: Syria conflict - Inside the Zaatari refugee camp zaatari-1.jpg A young Syrian refugee boy sells canned tuna and other food items in the Zaatari refugee camp, located close to the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria Getty Images In pictures: Syria conflict - Inside the Zaatari refugee camp zaatari-5.jpg Syrian refugee Afrah Abdullah, 11, poses for a portrait at Zaatari Syrian refugee camp, in Mafraq, Jordan AP In pictures: Syria conflict - Inside the Zaatari refugee camp zaatari-6.jpg Syrian refugee Ahmed Abdullah, 40, reads his Quran next to his son, Rashed at Zaatari Syrian refugee camp, in Mafraq, Jordan AP In pictures: Syria conflict - Inside the Zaatari refugee camp zaatari-8.jpg A Syrian refugee woman carries a bundle of greens at the Zaatari Syrian refugee camp, in Mafraq, Jordan AP In pictures: Syria conflict - Inside the Zaatari refugee camp zaatari-9.jpg Syrian refugee boys play soccer at Zaatari Syrian refugee camp, in Mafraq, Jordan AP In pictures: Syria conflict - Inside the Zaatari refugee camp zaatari-10.jpg A Syrian refugee boy stands in front of his family's makeshift home at Zaatari Syrian refugee camp, in Mafraq, Jordan AP In pictures: Syria conflict - Inside the Zaatari refugee camp zaatari-2.jpg A Syrian refugee sells mattresses and other goods at the Zaatari refugee camp located close to the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria Getty Images In pictures: Syria conflict - Inside the Zaatari refugee camp zaatari-3.jpg Syrian refugee Ahmed Abdullah, 40, looks out of his family's tent at Zaatari Syrian refugee camp, in Mafraq, Jordan AP

Five years of civil war have left huge shortages of medicine, staff and equipment to carry out complex surgery at hospitals in opposition areas, many of which have been damaged by government air strikes.

Luis Eguiluz, MSF’s head of mission in Jordan said the number of casualties has been mounting since fighting and bombardment started increasing in September but its ability to save lives was “severely restricted”.

The charity is among the groups calling for Jordan to reverse its border closure and allow Syrians wounded in the country’s ongoing conflict to access urgent care unavailable to them in warzones.

Amnesty International estimated that 75,000 refugees had become trapped in the “no man’s land” between the two countries by September.

Footage showed makeshift grave sites and burial mounds in the desert just metres from families’ tents, in what Amnesty called a “grim snapshot of the consequences of the world’s abject failure to share responsibility for the global refugee crisis”.