DHAKA: The UN refugee agency has urged the international community to help alleviate the ‘desperate living conditions’ of 620,000 Syrian refugees living in camps in Jordan.

One in six of them live in extreme poverty, a UN study says, according to the BBC.

It warned that unless the international community provided more support, the conditions of the refugees would only get worse.

More and more them were relying on outside assistance, it said.

UN refugee chief Antonio Guterres said their problems had been made more acute because of freezing winter temperatures and electricity shortages.

Guterres is meeting Jordanian officials and donors to co-ordinate efforts to improve living conditions for the refugees and the communities who are hosting them.

The UN’s Living in the Shadows report says it is based on data from home visits to almost 150,000 Syrian refugees living outside of camps in Jordan in 2014.

BDST: 2117 HRS, JAN 14, 2015