Syria situation regional roundup
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
Lebanon has become the third country in the region to see its population of registered Syrian refugees and people waiting for registration exceeding the 100,000 mark. As of yesterday the number of refugees was 101,283. Turkey and Jordan already have refugee populations in excess of this figure, and region-wide the number has climbed to more than 358,000. Governments in states bordering Syria estimate there are tens of thousands more Syrians who have not yet registered.
The recent unrest in Lebanon has temporarily disrupted UNHCR operations, including registration of refugees in Tripoli, Akar, Beirut and Saida in southern Lebanon. Registration was to have begun yesterday (Monday) in Saida, where some 800 Syrians already have appointments. We are assessing the security situation and hope to resume all operations as soon as conditions allow.
More than 5,500 Syrian refugees were registered last week at UNHCR centres. It is expected that more will continue to seek help the longer they stay in exile and as their own resources diminish. Most Syrian refugees in Lebanon are in the north and Bekaa, and nearly 70 per cent are from Homs.
Many of the refugees in Lebanon are struggling to make ends meet on the open economy and complain of high prices. Helping to ease the strain, the government announced last week that it will waive a fee for Syrians wishing to renew residency permits. Over the past week, some 16,000 refugees received food, blankets, mattresses, hygiene kits and baby kits from sources including UNHCR, WFP, Danish Refugee Council, World Vision, UNFPA, UNICEF and Caritas.
In Turkey, the registered refugee population in 14 government-run camps spread across seven provinces stood at 101,834 as of October 17th. In addition to the camp population an estimated 70,000 people reside outside the camps.
In Jordan, 105,737 Syrians have registered as refugees or are awaiting registration. In Iraq, there are now 42,661 Syrian refugees, including 34,446 in the northern Kurdistan Region.
As of October 20th UNHCR had also recorded 6,815 registered refugees in North Africa, most of them in Egypt. Egyptian officials, however, said last week that there are as many as 150,000 Syrians in the country, although very few have registered.
UNHCR continues to stress the urgent need for international support to refugee programmes in these countries - nations that should not be expected to carry the entire burden themselves. Nearly four weeks after the launch of the $487.9 million revised Syria Regional Response Plan, we remain only about a third funded. And we are racing against time to ensure that all of these hundreds of thousands of refugees are protected from the winter cold.
In Turkey, winter preparations include the provision of additional aid items. UNHCR is working with the Turkish Red Crescent Society to ensure that people have winter blankets, tarpaulins and electric heaters. We are also planning support for asylum seekers and refugees in urban locations.
Turkey says its borders remain open for Syrians seeking asylum. The authorities report, however, that there are more than 10,000 Syrians gathered on the Syrian side of the border opposite both Kilis and Hatay provinces. It is not clear whether all are willing to cross into Turkey. The Turkish Red Crescent is providing assistance to people on the border, and there are reports that some Turkish NGOs are providing humanitarian aid on the Syrian side.
In Syria itself, UNHCR yesterday reached the half-way mark in its goal of distributing non-food aid packages to 100,000 Syrian families (500,000 people) by the end of this year. And last week, UNHCR Syria began rolling out an ongoing cash assistance programme for the displaced in Hassakeh Governorate. During the week, our team in Hassakeh, reinforced by staff from Damascus, provided cash assistance to 5,230 families (approx. 26,000 individuals). With this one-time cash assistance affected Syrian families will be able to meet some of the needs that are not covered by our non-food aid packages. Hassakeh is the second location where Syrians have been able to benefit from the cash assistance programme, which was earlier piloted in Al Nabek (south of Homs), where some 3,525 families received emergency funds.
In anticipation of a possible truce during Eid, UNHCR has pre-positioned 5,000 emergency relief family kits in Aleppo, with another 5,000 on the way. If the truce happens, these materials could be delivered to 10,000 displaced families by implementing partners in places that we have previously been unable to reach around Aleppo and Idlib.
In addition, we are dispatching 1,000 recreational items that Syria Trust for Development, a local NGO, will distribute this week to children living in communal shelters in Damascus and Aleppo.
For further information on this topic, please contact:
- In Amman (for general Syria enquires): Ron Redmond (Regional Spokesman) on mobile +962 79 982 5867
- In Geneva: Melissa Fleming on mobile +41 79 557 9122
- In Geneva: Adrian Edwards on mobile +41 79 557 9120
Related news and stories
Earthquake survivors in Türkiye count the devastating toll
Twelve years on, Syrian refugees face deepening debt and hunger
Twelve years on, Syrian refugees face deepening debt and hunger
Visiting earthquake-ravaged areas of Türkiye and Syria, UNHCR's Grandi urges more support for survivors trying to rebuild
UNHCR, IOM welcome Spain's expedited resettlement of Syrian refugees from Türkiye in earthquake aftermath
Vital aid reaches Syrian quake survivors who – again – have lost everything
Your search for « syrians egypt » matched 1502 results. Only the first 1,000 results are displayed. Displaying page 1 of 112 pages.
-
Syria Regional Response Plan Update 5 - Egypt
6 Jun 2013 ... Syria regional reSponSe plan - JanUary to DeCeMBer 2013 EgYpt RESpoNSE plAN a. eXecutive summaRy Although nearly 50,000 Syrians had already registered as of mid-May and 18,000 were pending ...... -
Kinda Alloush
... Donate now Sign up to our newsletter About Kinda Kinda is a Syrian actress, known for her roles in Syrian and Egyptian drama and cinema, and has been a supporter of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency since ...... -
Middle East and North Africa
... The humanitarian situation in Syria remains volatile. After more than six years of conflict, there are over five million Syrian refugees in the region and counting. Elsewhere, violence and instability ...... -
Egypt: UNHCR concerned over detention of Syrian refugees amid anti-Syrian sentiment
26 Jul 2013 ... UNHCR is concerned that Egyptian military and security personnel have been arbitrarily arresting and detaining an increasing number of Syrians, including several minors and people registered with ...... -
Syria Regional Response Plan - January - June 2013
19 Dec 2012 ... 1 Syria Regional Response Plan J anuary to June 2013 2 515,061 Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt as of 12 December 2012 3 Table of Contents 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... -
Solidarity and Burden-Sharing, September 2013 (provisional release)
30 Sep 2013 ... Segment PROVISIONAL RELEASE S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 3 Lebanon Jordan Turkey Iraq Egypt 2 Countries hosting Syrian refugees - Solidarity and Burden-Sharing September 2013 Foreword THE CONFLICT ...... -
Syria Regional Response Plan Prioritized Projects as of 1 March 2013
1 Mar 2013 ... increase in the number of refugees fleeing from the Syrian Arab Republic into Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey continues to require the stepping up of the international humanitarian response. ...... -
UNHCR reaches out to Syrian refugees in Egypt
10 Jun 2013 ... SIXTH OF OCTOBER CITY, Egypt, June 10 (UNHCR) - The UN refugee agency is reaching out to the thousands of Syrian refugees in Egypt who are unaware of the benefits of registration, like unemployed ...... -
HLS: Solidarity and Burden-Sharing, Background papers for the High Level Segment
17 Oct 2013 ... Segment PROVISIONAL RELEASE S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 3 Lebanon Jordan Turkey Iraq Egypt 2 Countries hosting Syrian refugees - Solidarity and Burden-Sharing September 2013 Foreword THE CONFLICT ......