Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan

Stretching out as far as the eye can see, this is the grim and depressing home of 160,000 refugees who have escaped the brutal Syrian civil war

Incredibly, 6,000 people a day arrive at the sprawling Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan - which is about 8 miles from the Syrian border has become the country's fifth largest city

Despite the grim surroundings of the overcrowded 2.8 square-mile camp, its traumatised residents and the U.N officials who run it try to inject some humour

The camp is made up of rows of temporary buildings squashed up against each other  

Its main street, featuring many of its 3,000 shops, restaurants and food vendors, it known as the 'Champs Elysees' 

There is also a taxi service, schools, soccer fields and hospitals within its 12 districts

Despite this, the difficult lives its residents lead have led to riots. However, U.N. officials who run the camp say it has begun to emerge from the 'dark period' of violence, as its traumatised residents begin to reconcile themselves to a lengthy stay.

 Zaatari camp was envisaged as a short-term refuge that would allow Syrian Refugees to seek shelter, draw breath and prepare to return home.More than 150,000 refugees now live in Zaatari, almost three times as many as it was intended to hold when the camp was opened on July 28,2012

 The continued influx has at times overwhelmed officials at the camp. It has also changed the calculations of political leaders, some of whom are predicting that the refugee crisis could permanently alter the demographics of Jordan and Lebanon, just as the Palestinian exoduses of 1948 and 1967 did.