UN agency: Syrian refugee figure hits 1 million
Source: Associated Press
BEIRUT (AP) -- The number of Syrians who have fled their war-ravaged country and are seeking assistance has now topped the 1 million mark, the U.N. refugee agency said Wednesday, warning that Syria is heading toward a "full-scale disaster."
The announcement came as government troops and rebels fought street battles in Syria's strategic northern city of Raqqa. The Syrian military dispatched reinforcements in an attempt to push out opposition gunmen who now control most of the city, activists said.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, said in Geneva that the 1 million figure is based on reports from his agency's field offices in countries neighboring Syria that have provided safe haven for refugees escaping the civil war.
"With a million people in flight, millions more displaced internally, and thousands of people continuing to cross the border every day, Syria is spiraling toward full-scale disaster," Guterres said. Syria's population is about 22 million.
Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SYRIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-03-06-09-34-45
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)1 million dead Iraqi's.
Melinda
(5,465 posts)I sometimes wish to get off this planet. I really do.
Omaha Steve
(99,660 posts)How does the UN handle so many hungry mouths on the move?
jsr
(7,712 posts)according to the UN.
46% of the money received came from the U.S., 21% from the European Commission, 18% from Japan.
struggle4progress
(118,295 posts)BEIRUT (AP) Syria's accelerating humanitarian crisis hit a grim milestone Wednesday: The number of U.N.-registered refugees topped 1 million half of them children described by an aid worker as a "human river" of thousands spilling out of the war-ravaged country every day.
Nearly 4 million of Syria's 22 million people have been driven from their homes by the civil war. Of the displaced, 2 million have sought cover in camps and makeshift shelters across Syria, 1 million have registered as refugees in neighboring Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt, and several hundred thousand more fled the country but haven't signed up with the U.N. refugee agency ...
http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Syrian-refugees-top-1-million-rebels-take-city-4331557.php