Google – AFP, 21 February 2014
 |
Syrian
refugees pictured in a refugee camp near the city of Marea, on the
outskirts of
the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on February 19, 2014
(Mohammed
Al-Khatieb/AFP/File, Mohammed Al-Khatieb)
|
Genève —
The UN refugee agency on Friday urged countries outside the Middle East to open
their doors to 100,000 Syrians who need to find a haven outside their
conflict-hit region.
The call
from the United Nations high commissioner for refugees follows an earlier
appeal to developed countries to grant a new home to 30,000 of the most
vulnerable Syrians driven from their country.
With no
sign of an end to the brutal three-year conflict between the regime of Bashar
al-Assad and rebel forces, tens of thousands more will need help in the near
future, it said.
"UNHCR
anticipates that in the coming years, there will be increasing numbers of
vulnerable Syrian refugees who will be in need of resettlement, relocation, or
other forms of humanitarian admission," said spokesman Dan McNorton.
"We
appeal to the international community to continue providing longer-term
solutions for Syrian refugees who are most urgently in need," he told
reporters.
The agency
said it aimed to find a haven for the 100,000 new refugees during 2015 and
2016.
But it is
still working to place the initial 30,000 before the end of this year.
Twenty
countries have so offered more than 18,800 slots for resettlement or a
long-term temporary permit.
Germany has
done the most to shoulder the load, agreeing to take in 10,000 on a federal
programme and 1,500 under schemes in individual states.
Canada has
pledged 1,300, Sweden 1,200, Norway 1,000, and countries including Australia,
Austria, Finland and France have agreed to take in 500 each.
UNHCR said
it was likely to reach the total of 30,000 thanks to an open-ended number of
slots proposed by the United States, already the world's top destination for
refugee resettlement.
The figures
are a shadow of the number of Syrian refugees in the Middle East.
All told,
there are some 2.4 million Syrians spread across the region.
According
to UNCHR figures, there are some 932,000 in Lebanon, 613,000 in Turkey, 574,000
in Jordan, 223,000 in Iraq, and 134,000 in Egypt.
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