UN Agency Joins Syria’s Neighbours in Plea for Greater International Support to Region
New York, Sep 4 2013 - The United Nations refugee agency and senior Government ministers from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and
Turkey – countries which together host more than 1.7 million Syrian refugees - called today on the international
community to “overcome differences” to stop the fighting in Syria, as the made an urgent appeal for expanded assistance
to the region.
“We are facing the dramatic escalation of the Syrian conflict, namely with the use of chemical weapons,” UN High
Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said in an agreed statement with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Lebanese
Minister of Social Affairs Wael Abu Faour and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
“We strongly appeal to the international community to overcome existing differences and come together to stop the
fighting. All actions that are creating refugee flows need to cease,” the joint statement continued.
A political solution to end this cycle of horror is “urgently needed,” Mr. Guterres and the ministers said: “There is no
humanitarian solution to the Syrian crisis; rather there needs to be a political solution that ends the humanitarian
crisis.”
The joint statement follows a half-day meeting chaired by Mr. Guterres with representatives of the four countries that host the majority of
the 2 million refugees who have fled Syria since March 2011. And additional 4.25 million people are displaced within
Syria, according to UN figures.
A ministerial-level meeting is scheduled to be held on 30 September as part of the UN Refugee Agency’s (UNHCR) annual
Executive Committee gathering to discuss the Syrian refugee crisis.
The discussions - involving international financial institutions as well as ministerial delegations from Members States,
UN agencies and non-governmental organizations - will seek to build consensus for large-scale commitments to combine
humanitarian and emergency aid with support for development in the region.
“Our central message is these countries need and deserve massive support from the international community, and that
support is not yet there and it is essential to have a shift in the way the international community is handling that
support,” Mr. Guterres told journalists at the joint press conference in Geneva.
UNHCR and its partners in June appealed to donors for $4.4 billion for Syria relief operations this year, including $3
billion to meet humanitarian and host community needs in the immediate surrounding region. About 40 per cent of this
component has been funded.
As of the end August, the number of Syrians registered as refugees or pending registration was 200,000 in Iraq, 520,000
in Jordan, some 720,000 in Lebanon and 464,000 in Turkey.
At the current trend, an average of almost 5,000 Syrians flee into these countries every day, the UN reported, half of
them children.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today said it was continuing its support Syria, the four countries, as well as
neighbouring Egypt.
“We are working on the ground, round the clock with a wide network of dedicated partners to reach Syrian children across
the region,” said Maria Calivis, UNICEF’s Regional Director of the Middle East and North Africa.
To meet increasing humanitarian needs, work is on-going to pre-position essential supplies such as bottled water, water
tanks and purification tablets and household materials. The UN agency is also supporting children going back to school
with bags, materials and classroom furniture.
For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news
ENDS