Nightly News   |  January 26, 2013

Syrian refugees flood into Jordan

Several thousand Syrian refugees cross the border into Jordan every day – in the dark, braving shots fired by the Syrian military. They find safety but not comfort, as the refugee camps are days from filling up. NBC’s Stephanie Gosk reports.

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This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>> one of the biggest challenges on secretary clinton's watch has been the bloody conflict in syria. that civil war has also produced a growing refugee crisis as syrians try to escape. just yesterday the u.n. said that a record number of syrians, 30,000, had arrived in a refugee camp in neighboring jordan since the beginning of this year alone. that camp is where we sent nbc's stephanie gosk to take a first-hand look.

>> reporter: it's just before sunset in the syria/ jordan border is deceptively quiet. as night falls, syrian refugees are on the move. day time crossings are dangerous. the jordanian military says this video it shot recently shows syrian forces firing at a family with small children as they run to the border. so the refugees cross in the dark. several thousand a day now. flooding into jordan . this man carried his two oldest daughters the last mile. his wife carried their newborn. the missiles keep falling, he says. they find safety in jordan but not comfort. the largest camp here could fill to capacity 75,000 refugees in just days. organizers say they are running out of money. then there's the weather. the coldest winter here in years. an intense january storm with rain and wind showed how flimsy the tents can be and how quickly mud and cold can make life even worse . there was rain coming through our tent, this woman told us. eventually, it collapsed. with rain bucketing down a fight broke out over the trailers. at least three aid workers were hurt and some say as many as ten. the trailers are much nicer than the tents. the problem is there aren't nearly enough of them. rob maroney, a rhode island native who works for mercy corps sees the fight for scarce resources first hand. even a small hand out can turn into mayhem.

>> people are frustrated. you have a family with small children and you're cold. it's understandable that people would be in distress. when that happens tempers flare.

>> reporter: but there are also signs of resignation. they have to try and make life here work. for this family, it is day one. we know we have a difficult life ahead, he says. but we escaped death. and returning home may not be an option for a long time. stephanie gosk, nbc news at the