More than four million people have now fled Syria and become refugees in neighbouring countries, according to new figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released today. “The grim figure could easily have been even higher. Neighbouring countries’ capacity is now stretched to the limit. As a consequence, they have increased their entry restrictions, making it impossible for many civilians to flee the brutal war”, said Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland.
In less than ten months one million people have fled Syria, bringing the total number of registered refugees in the neighbouring countries to four million. The past six months have seen some of the worst violence since the start of the conflict, including in areas close to Syria’s borders. Still, many people are unable to escape the war ravaged country. About 95 per cent of the latest million Syrian refugees have come to Turkey, while the number of registered refugees in Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan has increased much more slowly, largely due to closed borders and strict entry regulations.
“Countries neighbouring Syria have generously opened their borders to four million people. However, many of the roads these refugees found to safety – are today virtually closed for men, women and children who are still in Syria”, said Egeland.
The resources of refugee-hosting countries are stretched to the limit. In Lebanon one out of four people is now a Syrian refugee and this has put enormous pressure on public infrastructure, like schools and hospitals.
“We need to significantly scale up the support to the neighbouring countries, to ensure that they can keep their borders open and provide adequate living conditions for the refugees who are already there. Many families are already living in sub-standard shelters, many children are not able to go to school, many elderly are unable to get necessary medication”, said Egeland.
Only last week the World Food Programme announced massive cuts in assistance to refugees across the region. Only 24 % of this year’s appeal for support to the regional refugee and resilience plan has been funded.
“In addition to more humanitarian assistance to countries affected by the war in Syria, there is a need to resettle a larger number of the refugees outside the region. Some of the most vulnerable refugees are not able to get the necessary support and protection in Syria’s neighbouring countries. We can no longer make this a question of whether we provide aid or resettlement – we need to do both”, Egeland added.
Last year, Syrians constituted the largest group of people trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in a desperate attempt to get to Europe.
“When desperate Syrians are risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean, it is a stark reminder of our failure to provide protection and hope in the region and the lack of sufficient numbers of resettlement places”, said Egeland.