The large number of Syrians fleeing the country amid President Bashar al-Assad's brutal crackdown on protesters is deeply worrying, the head of the United Nations refugee body said on Wednesday.
"There is a meaningful number of Syrians who have crossed the border into Turkey ... and of course this is an area of enormous concern to us," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres told reporters in Stockholm.
About 160 Syrians crossed into Turkey in two separate waves Wednesday, bringing to some 550 the number of Syrians taking refuge in the country, an AFP reporter witnessed.
At least 5,000 Syrian refugees have also arrived in northern Lebanon since April.
Guterres stressed the need to help those fleeing to both countries.
"It's important to say the Syrians have been very generous people, hosting refugees from Iraq, Palestinian refugees, and that we have also very important refugee operations in Syria," he added.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier on Wednesday that Turkey would keep its door open to Syrians fleeing repression and renewed a call on Assad, a close friend, to introduce democratic reforms.
A Turkish-Syrian refugee support group says it has recorded 89 injured people in Turkish hospitals since May 20.
Turkey and Syria share a border of more than 800 kilometers.
Syrian anti-government protests erupted in March and more than 1,100 civilians, including dozens of children, have been killed in the ensuing security crackdown, according to rights groups.
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