UNHCR urges international help for Syrian refugees

Mohammed Rasooldeen
Syrian children stand by in front of the rubble of a destroyed house in the northern Syrian town of Al-Bab. (AFP)

RIYADH: The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has urged the international community to redouble its efforts to alleviate the suffering of millions of Syrians.
“Syria is at a crossroads. Unless drastic measures are taken to shore up peace and security for Syria, the situation will worsen,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.
In Syria, 13.5 million need humanitarian aid, 6.3 million are displaced internally, and hundreds of thousands have made perilous sea voyages seeking sanctuary.
Nearly 3 million Syrians under the age of 5 have grown up knowing nothing but conflict, and 4.9 million — the majority women and children — are refugees in neighboring states, placing host communities under social, economic and political strain.
But “ultimately, Syria’s conflict isn’t about numbers — it’s about people,” Grandi said. “Families have been torn apart, innocent civilians killed, houses destroyed, businesses and livelihoods shattered. It’s a collective failure.”
The UNHCR and its partners have been providing life-saving help to millions of Syrians. In 2016, more than 1 million received winter essentials to help keep people alive in sub-zero temperatures.
Last year, more than 4 million people in Syria received basic relief items such as food, medicine, bedding and utensils.
More than 2 million benefited from the UNHCR’s network of community centers in Syria, whose services include child protection, education and health.
Regionally, more than 3 million displaced Syrians and refugees received assistance to help survive a bitterly cold winter.
A conference in Brussels in early April will assess Syria’s future, including humanitarian funding requirements. The UN is requesting $8 billion this year to meet Syrians’ needs at home and in exile.
“We urge donors to maintain adequate, flexible funding to allow us to respond to the enormous needs,” Grandi said. “Funding won’t end the suffering. But it is one thing we can do as poverty and misery intensify. The resources currently available simply don’t come close to meeting all the challenges.”