AP PHOTOS: Syrian refugee camp becoming a city

    The Associated Press
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    In this Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013, photo, Syrian women stand on the top of a pile searching for a Syrian cellular network signal with their mobile phones at Zaatari refugee camp near the Syrian border in Jordan. The manager of the largest Syrian refugee camp arranges toy figurines, trucks and houses on a map to illustrate his ambitious vision: He wants to turn the chaotic shantytown of 100,000 into a city with local councils, paved streets, parks, and proper electricity and sewage. Refugees in Zaatari are already increasing putting down roots, creating an elaborate camp economy in a tough, enclosed world. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo)

    A plan to turn a sprawling Syrian refugee shantytown into a functional temporary city has no shortage of difficulties. Zaatari, a desert camp near Jordan's border with Syria, is the largest camp of its kind in the region. It is home to more than 100,000 people who have fled the bloody Syrian civil war that continues to rage. Zaatari is currently far from the vision that some people have for it: a temporary city with local councils, paved streets, parks, an electricity grid and sewage pipes. Life is tough here. The strong often take from the weak, women fear going to communal bathrooms after dark, sewage runs between pre-fab trailers and boys hustle for pennies carting goods in wheelbarrows instead of going to school. This camp, the size of a modern city, is far from modern.

    Here's a gallery of photos from Zaatari.

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