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Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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31May13
Over 1.6 mln Syrian refugees in neighboring countries: UN
The number of Syrian refugees in neighboring countries has passed 1.6 million this week, deputy UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey told reporters here Friday.
The number of Syrian civilians who have fled their country to escape conflict has passed the 1.5 million mark, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) announced on May 17, warning that the widening gap between the needs and resources available is becoming a huge challenge.
The Syrian crisis, which broke out in March 2011, has led to a massive influx of Syria refugees into neighboring Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.
"On Wednesday, an inter-agency team, including the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Refugee Agency, the World Food Program, UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Fund), and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, visited the town of Hasiya in central-western Syria in order to assess the situation and needs of Syrian families that had been forcibly displaced from Al-Qusair, " del Buey said at a daily news briefing here.
Since the intensification of the fighting in Al-Qusair three weeks ago, at least 700 families or 3,500 people have arrived in Hasiya, said the spokesman.
Meanwhile, some 3,000 refugees from Al-Qusair were registered by the UN Refugee Agency in Lebanon, although the actual number of refugees fleeing is likely to be higher, he added.
"The inter-agency team visited various sites that are now home to an estimated 150 families," del Buey said. Due to the poor sanitation and hygiene conditions in which people were living, many people, especially children, were suffering from diarrhea, respiratory problems, high fevers, ear infections and skin diseases, he said.
[Source: Xinhua, United Nations, 31May13]
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