More and more Syrians fleeing to Jordan

(Vatican Radio) The "endless slaughter" of the conflict in Syria is a top concern for Pope Benedict who reiterated his appeal for an urgent ceasefire there during his address on Monday to diplomats accredited to the Holy See.

Listen to the voice of the Pope appealing for a dialogue in Syria:

“I renew my appeal for a ceasefire,” the Pope said, “and for the inauguration as quickly as possible of a constructive dialogue aimed at putting an end to a conflict which will know no victors but only vanquished if it continues, leaving behind it nothing but a field of ruins”.

The brutal conflict in Syria has displaced more than a million people, many of whom have fled to neighbouring countries such as Jordan. Among the NGO's caring for the refugees is the Church's international humanitarian umbrella organisation, Caritas Internationalis. The Program Manager of Caritas Jordan is Omar Obawi who spoke to Vatican Radio's Veronica Scarisbrick.

Obawi said 60 percent of the Syrian refugees who have fled to Jordan are women and children and very often they are highly traumatised by their experiences in their war-torn homeland. But life is not easy for them in Jordan either. Obawi said many of the Syrian refugee parents are forcing their daughters to marry at an early age because they feel that is better for them to be provided for by a Jordanian husband rather than be hungry and penniless in their host country. He also said that some of the Syrian families, are sending their children out to beg in the streets, rather than sending them to Jordanian schools.

Obawi says officials are predicting that the flow of Syrian refugees is likely to increase with a further half a million Syrians expected to flee across the border in the next few months. He said 1,700 refugees crossed the border from Syria into Jordan in one day alone last week.

Listen to the extended interview with Omar Obawi of Caritas Jordan: