Post date: Nov 28, 2013 6:37:21 PM
The United Nations refugee agency says it has registered over 2.25 million Syrian refugees but believes over three million have fled the country.
AMMAN, JORDAN (NOVEMBER 28, 2013) (REUTERS) - Over three million people have now fled the war in Syria, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said on Thursday (November 28).
Speaking in Amman, António Guterres said the official figures hid the true extent of the issue."We have reached yesterday 2,264,000 Syrian refugees registered by UNHCR in the region, but taking into account what the governments know about other Syrians that fled the conflict, and did not register because they did not need direct assistance from UNHCR, from the countries or the international community, we believe that now more than three million Syrians have fled the country," he said.
Guterres said the international community needed to offer greater support to countries borderingSyria that are shouldering the weight of the refugee exodus.
"This is the moment for the international community to fully understand that the support provided to the countries of the region needs to be strongly enhanced, needs to be really massive, because there is a risk for the asylum space if that doesn't happen," he said.
Jordan said this month that the total cost of hosting Syrian refugees in 2013 and 2014 would exceed $5 billion, more than previously estimated.
The country's finance minister attributed the escalating costs mainly to the need for more infrastructure to alleviate overcrowding in Jordan, now home to more than 600,000 Syrian refugees, according to U.N. data.
He said Jordan's schools, hospitals and entire infrastructure were overcrowded.
Acknowledging the difficulties, Guterres said the international community needed to step in and help.
"When I speak of massive support, I am not talking only about humanitarian support, about providing Syrian refugees and host communities with different items of humanitarian support, I am talking about structural, development-related questions. A country like Jordan for instance, needs massive support today to upgrade its education system as tens of thousands of Syrian students come into the education system."
The U.N. refugee agency last month appealed to European and other states to grant asylum to more Syrians as increasing numbers flee their country in perilous journeys across the Mediterranean.
Syria's immediate neighbours, as well as Libya and Egypt, are struggling to cope with an average daily exodus of 4,000 Syrian refugees and need support in sharing the burden, the UNHCR said.