13th July, 2015
The number of Syrian refugees passed four million last week, according to the UN refugee agency.
UNHCR said last week that the new figures – which put the number of refugees at slightly more than 4,013,000 – were based on new arrivals in Turkey and updated data from the authorities on the number of refugees already in that country.
Ant‚àö‚â•nio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said the Syrian refugee population, sparked by conflict in the country which is now in its fifth year, represents the biggest from a single conflict in a generation.
"It is a population that deserves the support of the world but is instead living in dire conditions and sinking deeper into abject poverty…" he said.
"Worsening conditions are driving growing numbers towards Europe and further afield, but the overwhelming majority remain in the region. We cannot afford to let them and the communities hosting them slide further into desperation."
UNHCR said that at the current rate it would expect the refugees from the Syrian conflict to reach 4.27 million by the end of the year. The last time refugee numbers reached such a level was in 1992 when the number of refugees from Afghanistan reached as high as 4.6 million.
The majority of the Syrian refugees – 1.81 million – are located in Turkey while Lebanon is home to 1.17 million, Jordan to 629,128, Iraq to 249,726, Egypt to 132,375 and 24,055 elsewhere in North Africa. The refugee figure does not include more than 270,000 asylum seekers in Europe, and thousands of others who have not resettled in neighbouring countries.
In addition to the refugees who have fled Syria, 7.6 million people are displaced from their homes but remain inside the country’s borders.
Data from the UN shows that life for Syria’s refugees is becoming increasingly hard with 86 per cent of those living in Jordan, for example, living below the poverty line of $US3.2 a day while in Lebanon 55 per cent of refugees live in what is described as "sub-standard" shelters.
The UNHCR and partners had, as of late June, only raised around a quarter of the $US5.5 billion they estimated would be required to aid Syrian refugees this year.
– DAVID ADAMS
