Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief, sees the plight of Syrian refugees first hand.

On Monday, she toured Jordan's Zaatari refugee camp and met with teachers and students at a makeshift school sponsored by UNICEF.

She praised Jordan and international aid groups for their efforts in helping Syrian refugees escape the ongoing violence.

Ashton said peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi was doing everything in his power to end the devastating civil war.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) EU HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS CATHERINE ASHTON SAYING:

"I think his first priority is to try and find ways to stop the fighting, and to try and find ways in which the people can come together, and of course we have to support him in that."

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have fled the increasingly bloody conflict only to end up in refugee camps like this one.