5,000 Births in Jordan Camp for Syria Refugees Since 2013

A young Syrian refugee at the U.N.-run Zaatari camp, northeast of the Jordanian capital Amman, on Sept. 19, 2015. Khalil Mazraawi/AFP/Getty Images

ZAATARI REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan—The U.N. Population Fund said Tuesday that its clinic in Jordan’s largest camp for Syrian refugees has safely delivered more than 5,000 babies since opening in 2013.

Daniel Baker, the fund’s regional humanitarian coordinator, said the clinic also offers family planning, including spacing of births, but that the pace of deliveries has been steady.

The clinic hit the mark of 5,000 births several days ago, he said.

An aerial view shows the Zaatari refugee camp on July 18, 2013, near the Jordanian city of Mafraq, some 8 kilometers from the Jordanian-Syrian border. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

The Zaatari camp, home to about 79,000 refugees, was established in 2012, a year after the outbreak of the Syria conflict. Jordan houses a total of 635,000 Syrian refugees, out of 4.7 million in the region.

Many Zaatari residents come from rural areas with traditionally large families. Refugees live in trailers and survive on cash and food aid. Jordan bars most refugees from legal work.

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