FIRE-EARTH log on Syria – dated June 14, 2012
The joint proxy war waged by Saudi Arabia and Israel against Syria has entered a new phase. The head of UN peacekeeping operations has described the Syrian conflict as a “civil war.”
5,000 Refugees crossing Syria’s borders each day: UNHCR
Some two million Syrian refugees, including more than 1 million children aged 17 or younger, are now living in Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, said the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR.
The 2 million figure represents Syrians who have registered as refugees or awaiting registration. As of end August the total comprised 168,000 in Iraq, 110,000 in Egypt, 716,000 in Lebanon, 515,000 in Jordan, and 460,000 in Turkey.
The exodus represents “a disgraceful humanitarian calamity with suffering and displacement unparalleled in recent history.” said the High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres.
“The risks for global peace and security that the present Syria crisis represents, I’m sure, are not smaller than what we have witnessed in any other crisis that we have had since the Vietnam war,” said Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister.
A further 4.25 million people are displaced internally, according to data from the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which means there are now more people forcibly displaced in Syria than in any other country.
Human river of Syrian refugees cross border into northern Iraq, August 2013. Photo: UNHCR/G. Gubaeva
About 98 per cent of Syria’s refugees are hosted by 4 neighboring countries and nearby Egypt, placing an overwhelming burden on their infrastructures, economies and societies.
Meantime, UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie, has expressed her dismay at the level of death, destruction and danger that has forced so many Syrians to run for their lives.
“The world risks being dangerously complacent about the Syrian humanitarian disaster. The tide of human suffering unleashed by the conflict has catastrophic implications. If the situation continues to deteriorate at this rate, the number of refugees will only grow, and some neighbouring countries could be brought to the point of collapse,” she said.
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