Number of Syrian Refugees Could Reach 3.5 Million This Year
According to the United Nations
BERLIN (AP) — The number of Syrian refugees in neighboring countries could more than double to 3.5 million by the end of the year, the United Nations said Friday as the global body launched its biggest humanitarian appeal ever.
The U.N. asked donor countries for $5.2 billion to help alleviate the suffering of millions of people inside and outside Syria who are struggling with the effects of a conflict that has dragged on for more than two years.
"We expect that we might reach 3.5 million refugees by the end of the year," U.N. refugee chief Antonio Guterrestold a news conference in Geneva. Around 1.6 million people have already sought refuge in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. Another 7,000 refugees are crossing the border each day, he said.
"If the fighting doesn't stop, we risk an explosion in the Middle East for which the international community is simply not prepared," Guterres said, noting that Lebanon and Jordan in particular have borne the financial brunt of hosting about 500,000 Syrian refugees each.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?