Turkey has seen a spike in the number of refugees coming from Syria as the government assault in neighboring Idlib province intensifies. Turkish authorities are building two new camps and say they are preparing for many more arrivals if Syria descends into full civil war.

Dump trucks and rollers kick up clouds of dust as workers lay a gravel base across the grounds of a former tobacco factory.

Among the machines roam families of Syrian refugees - the first arrivals. The Islahiye refugee camp in Turkey, a few kilometers from the border - is one of two huge sites being constructed by the Turkish government. It will house some of the growing number of Syrians fleeing into Turkey to escape Syria's worsening crackdown on anti-government unrest.

The other site for refugees will consist of more permanent containers rather than tents. It is close to the Oncupinar border crossing - just meters from Syria.

It will eventually house the majority of the estimated 17,000 refugees already in Turkey.

Now they are scattered among several different sites - like Altinozu camp, where VOA spoke to one female refugee who declined to give her name.

"I am from Jisr Al Shughour," she said. "The soldiers kill people when they attack our homes, and they are raping women. When you go out in the streets, anything may happen to you."

Another camp in the nearby village of Apaydin is kept largely secret by the Turkish authorities because it houses some generals who have defected from the army of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

At the border town of Yayladagi, VOA spoke to some fighters from the opposition's Free Syrian Army.

They said Assad’s forces are launching ferocious assaults on towns in the northern Idlib province. Videos posted online - impossible to verify - appear to back these claims.

“The situation is so terrible there, so terrible, the Assad forces are attacking,” said one of the men. “They are attacking Idlib using the entire arsenal of weapons they have against the people. They don’t just kill people in the Free Syrian Army. They kill women, children, old men. They don’t care if they are civilians.”

Many of the refugees may be too young to understand the violence - but they are well-versed in anti-Assad chants.

They are now being moved to the bigger camps four hours away, even farther from home.

The Turkish government says it has little choice - the camps are full and hundreds more refugees are arriving by the day.