Za’tari is a containment camp 12km from the Syrian–Jordanian border. It was opened in July 2012 to host Syrians fleeing the violence in their country. It was built for a capacity of 60,000 people, but at the time of my visit on March 18th, its population had topped 100,000 and was growing at nearly 5,000 a day. Syrians from Der’a and the surrounding countryside were fleeing the fighting in droves. Many of them were being displaced for a second time having previously moved from the pastoral region of the Jezirah of Syria which had been stricken by drought between 2006 and 2011.
Professor Dawn Chatty writes for Debating Development of her experience visiting the Za'atari camp, Jordan
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IRIN / Areej Abu Qudairi