Ben Carson visits Syrian refugee camps in Jordan

 

Syrian refugees do not want to come to the United States, Ben Carson has declared after visiting a UN camp in Jordan - visited the Azraq camp, near a Jordanian airbase, where he met with refugees as well as officials from the United Nations Refugee Agency.

The Republican presidential candidate said refugees from war-torn Syria have no 'great desire' to leave the Middle East - and he called for a political solution so they can go back home.

 

He urged Americans to launch a 'humanitarian drive' to raise billions of dollars in aid that could improve the conditions of camps in Jordan, as well as others in Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt. 

Dr Carson said he visited Jordan 'to see with my own eyes this great human tragedy', adding that refugees were better off staying in camps in the Middle East than coming to the US. 

More than 4.3million men, women and children have fled Syria since the start of the civil war - and subsequent rise of ISIS - in 2011, according to the United Nations.

At least 633,000 fled to Jordan, where most are staying in refugee camps not far from the Syrian border.