The Associated Press reports: The U.N. refugee agency said Thursday the number of Syrian refugees who have fled their country’s civil war and found shelter in Egypt has now topped 150,000 – a significant jump from last month’s figure of 95,000.

The director of UNHCR in Egypt, Mohamed Dayri, said that despite the growing number of refugees in Egypt, only 4,800 Syrians have registered with the agency in Cairo. He called on Egyptian authorities to help UNHCR deal with the “rising emergency” of Syrian refugees here.

A U.N. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, suggested Syria’s neighbors who have taken in refugees – Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan – are “reaching (the) saturation point,” prompting an influx into Egypt, where the cost of living is cheaper.