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 At more than 3 million as of mid-2014, Syrians accounted for
nearly one in four of the 13 million refugees worldwide being
assisted by the U.N. refugee agency, the highest figure since 1996,
it said in a report. Some 5 million Palestinians refugees are cared
for by a separate agency, UNRWA.
"As long as the international community continues to fail to find
political solutions to existing conflicts and to prevent new ones
from starting, we will continue to have to deal with the dramatic
humanitarian consequences," U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
Antonio Guterres said in a statement.
At least 200,000 people have died and half the Syrian population has
been displaced since the conflict began in March 2011 with protests
that spiraled into civil war.
Worldwide, an estimated 5.5 million people were forcibly uprooted
during the first six months of last year, 1.4 million of them
fleeing abroad, the UNHCR said.
 The Middle East and North Africa has become the main region of
origin of refugees, overtaking the Asia and Pacific region that held
the top spot for more than a decade.
Afghan refugees, the biggest group for three decades, have fallen to
second place, with 2.6 million hosted by Pakistan and Iran at
mid-year, it said. Somalis ranked as the third largest refugee group
at 1.1 million.
Syria's neighbors -- Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Turkey -- continue to
bear the brunt of the crisis.
"With 257 refugees per 1,000 inhabitants, Lebanon remains the
country with the highest refugee density at mid-2014," UNHCR said,
noting that Jordan ranked second.
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Sweden, with 12 refugees per 1,000 inhabitants, is the only
industrialized country among major hosts, ranking 10th, it said.
Syrians also formed the largest group of asylum-seekers worldwide
during the first half of 2014, lodging 59,600 applications, it said.
Germany and Sweden together received 40 percent of these claims, it
added.
Iraqis fleeing conflict were the second largest group of
asylum-seekers during the period, at 28,900, the report said.
Last year nearly 3,500 migrants perished while trying to cross the
Mediterranean to reach Europe, the UNHCR says.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
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