On Syria conflict's deadliest day, UN doubles its appeal for refugee aid

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that 305 people were killed countrywide yesterday, making it the deadliest day in Syria since the conflict began 18 months ago. The Britain-based group said two-thirds of those killed on Wednesday were civilians. 

 

The surge in fighting across much of Syria has resulted in a commensurate rise in the number of refugees fleeing to safety in neighboring countries. There are now some seven times the number of registered refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, as there were in March. The UN refugee agency says 2,000  to 3,000 Syrians are now fleeing their country daily, overwhelming already stretched support systems in neighboring countries. The UN appealed for close to $200 million in March based on an estimate that there would be 100,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year. Now the UN is planning for 700,000 refugees by the close of 2012, but it’s impossible to gauge what the real number may be.  

 

“Funding for this refugee crisis has been particularly difficult to obtain, for many humanitarian agencies,” says IRC emergency director Robert Warwick in Jordan's capital, Amman.  “Whatever the reasons may be, it is the outcome that we are most concerned about — especially as winter approaches.” 

 

As the crisis in Syria continues to escalate, the IRC is expanding our assistance to Syrian refugees in neighboring Jordan.  Syria Crisis Special Report. >>