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"This is the
biggest refugee population from a single conflict in a
generation. It is a population that needs the support of the
world but is instead living in dire conditions and sinking
deeper into poverty,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
António Guterres said in a statement.
Most refugees from Syria's four years of war are in Lebanon,
Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and Turkey, which has more refugees than any
other country, with 1.8 million Syrians.
A further 270,000 Syrians have asked for asylum in Europe and
7.6 million more are displaced within Syria.
“Worsening conditions are driving growing numbers towards Europe
and further afield, but the overwhelming majority remain in the
region,” Guterres said. “We cannot afford to let them and the
communities hosting them slide further into desperation.”
UNHCR's appeal for $5.5 billion to support the Syrian refugees
in 2015 is only 24 percent funded. The U.N. World Food Program
has already cut rations for refugees because of a lack of cash.
About 86 percent of the 630,000 in Jordan live below the poverty
line of $3.2 per day, the UNHCR statement said, while more than
half of the 1.173 million Syrians in Lebanon live in
sub-standard shelters.
(Reporting by Tom Miles; editing by Andrew Roche)
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