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FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013 file photo, A Syrian refugee boy runs to his family tent at Zaatari Syrian refugee camp, near the Syrian border in Mafraq, Jordan. The U.N. refugee agency in Jordan says there has been a spike in the number of Syrians fleeing the civil war at home and crossing into Jordan.
AMMAN, Jordan—The U.N. refugee agency in Jordan says there has been a spike in the number of Syrians fleeing the civil war at home and crossing into Jordan.

UNHCR's representative Andrew Harper says about 3,000 Syrians have entered Jordan every night for the past 5 days.

Harper said Tuesday the spike is due to intensified shelling, fighting and the "desperate situation" in Syria's southern villages.

He says Jordan's Zaatari refugee camp is filling up quickly and that the UNHCR is running out of money to expand and set up other camps.

Harper expressed hope the upcoming conference in Kuwait on January 30 will raise funds for Syrian refugees.

Jordan hosts more than 300,000 Syrians. About one-fifth of them are housed in Zaatari while the rest live among the local communities.