Overview
Unrest in Syria since March 2011 has displaced over 3.6 million people within the country and has forced more than 1.5 million refugees to flee to neighbouring countries. As of April 2013, UNHCR has registered 445,190 Syrian refugees in Jordan, 314,337 in Turkey, 136,914 in Iraq, and 438,190 in Lebanon.
"We are witnessing human suffering on an epic scale...Without massive support from the international community, it will be impossible to respond to this dramatic humanitarian situation in and around Syria." -António Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees
As the exodus of Syrian refugees continues to escalate, humanitarian needs remain high. Three quarters of the refugees are women and children. Many have lost relatives, their homes, belongings and livelihoods. Fleeing for their lives, Syrians left their homes with nothing but the clothes on their back. When Syrian children and families finally arrive at a safe place, they are traumatised, scared and vulnerable. Millions of people are relying on UNHCR and its partners for assistance and protection. UNHCR is working around the clock to keep them safe and warm, providing them with shelter, sleeping mats, blankets, food and access to school. Urgent response is needed to meet these needs of the growing number of displaced Syrians and refugees.
Please make a donation today and help UNHCR provide shelter, assistance and protection for Syrian refugees.
MORE INFORMATION: Read the latest updates, statistics and information on how UNHCR and other agencies are responding to the Syria crisis.
Note: Should the funds raised exceed the amount required to meet the immediate and longer term needs of the people in the affected areas, Australia for UNHCR will direct donations to our Emergency Programs for Refugees to enable us to rapidly address future emergencies as they occur.
News
GENEVA: Number of Syrian refugees tops 1.5 million mark with many more expected - 20 May 2013
GENEVA, May 17 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency announced on Friday that the number of Syrian civilians who have fled their country to escape conflict has passed the 1.5 million mark. "The Syrian conflict continues to have a devastating impact on the lives of those who are forced to flee," added UNHCR spokesman Dan McNorton in Geneva.
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JORDAN: UN Goodwill Ambassador Jesús Vázquez visits Syrian refugees in Jordan - 15 May 2013
ZA'ATRI REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan, May 15 (UNHCR)- Popular Spanish TV presenter Jesús Vázquez visited Jordan this week to highlight the plight of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, particularly the children, and to help raise urgently-needed funds for UNHCR's Syria crisis operation.
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KUWAIT: UNHCR chief thanks Kuwaiti Emir for US$110 million donation - 7 May 2013
KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait, May 5 (UNHCR) – UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres has visited Kuwait and personally thanked the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, for an unprecedented donation of US$110 million for UNHCR's emergency operation for Syrian refugees.
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GENEVA: UNHCR report says Syrian influx strains host country health services - 27 April 2013
GENEVA, April 26 (UNHCR) – A UN refugee agency report released on Friday warns that the Syria refugee crisis is increasingly straining health services in surrounding countries, while refugees are facing increasing difficulties in accessing the quality treatment they need – particularly those with chronic and other costly health conditions.
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GENEVA: UNHCR fears for safety of growing number of returning Syrian refugees - 12 April 2013
GENEVA, April 12 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency reported on Friday that an increasing number of Syrian refugees have been opting to return home from Jordan since the start of April despite continuing conflict.
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SYRIA CRISIS: Funding gap threatens refugee response in Lebanon - 11 April 2013
BEIRUT, Lebanon, April 10 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency and its UN and NGO partner organizations have warned that basic programmes and humanitarian assistance for Syrian refugees in Lebanon are being cut because of a lack of funding.
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JORDAN: Q&A: UNHCR teams reach out to vulnerable Syrian refugees across Jordan - 3 April 2013
AMMAN, Jordan, April 3 (UNHCR) – Most of the global media's coverage of Syrian refugees in Jordan has focused on Za'atri, a camp carved out of the harsh desert landscape in northern Jordan. The many images of Za'atri show row upon row of tents in what is now a small city. But some three-quarters of the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees in Jordan live outside the camps, in villages, towns and cities across the country.
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IRAQ: UNHCR concerned for Syrian refugees in Iraq as number of arrivals arises - 2 April 2013
GENEVA, April 2 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency on Tuesday warned that with the Syria crisis now into its third year, and refugees continuing to cross borders to neighbouring countries in large numbers, pressure to accommodate refugees is growing.
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SYRIA CRISIS: UNHCR calls afresh on Syria's warring parties to allow aid delivery - 26 March 2013
GENEVA, March 26 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency on Tuesday called again on all parties to ensure safe passage for convoys delivering humanitarian aid to civilians inside Syria. "In the current security environment, several convoys have had to be cancelled or delayed. This is depriving many Syrians of vitally needed help," UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told journalists in Geneva.
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USA: UNHCR warns that underfunding threatens international response to Syria crisis - 20 March 2013
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States, March 19 (UNHCR) – UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres on Tuesday told United States senators that Syria's worsening humanitarian crisis risks overwhelming the international community's capacity to respond.
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LEBANON: UNHCR's helping hand for pregnant refugees and others in need of care - 18 March 2013
BEIRUT, Lebanon, March 18 (UNHCR) – Amid the sadness of war there is good news for 16-year-old Syrian refugee, Iman.* Her baby lives.
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JORDAN: UNHCR takes Prince Charles round Syrian refugee camp in Jordan - 13 March 2013
AMMAN, Jordan, March 13 (UNHCR) – Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, on Wednesday hailed the work of UNHCR and its partners in helping tens of thousands of Syrian refugees in Jordan during a landmark visit to a camp near the border with Syria.
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JORDAN: UNHCR appeals for extraordinary funds for Syria victims - 13 March 2013
AMMAN, Jordan, March 13 (UNHCR) – UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres on Wednesday urged donor nations to approve extraordinary funds to help Syrian refugees and host countries, warning of dire consequences if funding levels do not rise.
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JORDAN: Syrians in Jordan: A community of refugees flowers in the desert - 13 March 2013
ZA'ATRI REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan, March 13 (UNHCR) – In one of the world's fastest growing refugee camps, Syrian trader Noordin Ibrahim sells the essence of romance. His makeshift stall, made from scraps of material, tin and wood, contains more than 300 perfumes, dozens of bottles of nail varnish and other items meant to make his customers a little more alluring. There are the items like "CK One" and "Kiss over the Moon." And then there are other home-made fragrances meant for tenderness and enticement contained in little glass bottles.
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TURKEY: UNHCR welcomes Turkey's registration of Syrians in urban areas - 12 March 2013
ANKARA, Turkey, March 11 (UNHCR) – UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres on Monday hailed Turkey for its assistance and policy towards tens of thousands of Syrian refugees, including the launch of a government operation to register refugees in urban areas.
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JORDAN: Syrians in Jordan: preventing the most vulnerable from falling through the cracks - 8 March 2013
AMMAN, Jordan, March 7 (UNHCR) – It's morning and a 70-year-old Syrian man stands outside the UNHCR building in Amman among hundreds of other asylum-seekers. His trousers are dirty. His black shoes, covered in dust, are falling apart. His hands shake uncontrollably, bouncing off his frayed coffee-coloured sweater. His 60-year-old wife helps to keep him standing. A hijab (veil) covers her head.
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LEBANON: UNHCR to help 30,000 Syrian refugees through ATM cash programme - 6 February 2013
TRIPOLI, Lebanon, February 6 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency plans to expand a cash assistance programme utilizing ATM cards to 30,000 Syrian refugees by March after the recent completion of a pilot programme for 200 families in northern Lebanon.
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SYRIA: UNHCR humanitarian aid convoy reaches displaced people in northern Syria - 1 February 2013
GENEVA, February 1 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency has this week completed a first delivery of winter emergency relief to the Azzas area of northern Syria where thousands of internally displaced people are living in makeshift camps.
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KUWAIT: UNHCR welcomes US$1.5 billion pledged in Kuwait for Syria's forcibly displaced - 31 January 2013
KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait, January 30 (UNHCR) – UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres on Wednesday praised donor countries for pledging more than US$1.5 billion to help Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries and those displaced within the embattled country.
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JORDAN: Record numbers of Syrians cross to Jordan as UNHCR helps ready new camp - 26 January 2013
ZA'ATRI CAMP, Jordan, January 25 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency said Friday that Jordan has experienced a record number of refugee arrivals, with more than 30,000 arriving at Za' atri camp since the beginning of the year.
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GENEVA: UNHCR urgently needs funds as it scales up Syria refugee operations - 22 January 2013
GENEVA, January 22 (UNHCR) -The UN refugee agency is dramatically expanding registration and assistance for Syrian refugees, working hard to keep pace with the unrelenting numbers crossing into neighbouring countries each day.
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GENEVA: UNHCR mourns death of seven Syrian refugees killed in Jordan fire - 17 January 2013
GENEVA, January 17 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency today expressed its sadness at the death of seven Syrian refugees in a fire at a transit centre in the Jordanian border town of Ramtha. Six of the dead were children.
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SYRIA: Winter conditions bring new hardship for more than 600,000 Syrian refugees - 14 January 2013
GENEVA, January 11 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency said on Friday that severe winter conditions across Syria and the surrounding region this past week have brought new difficulties for hundreds of thousands of refugees and other forcibly displaced people.
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IRAQ: Syrian's tailoring skill suits the needs of refugees in Iraq camp - 3 January 2013
DOMIZ CAMP, Iraq, January 3 (UNHCR) – Often fleeing with nothing but the clothes on their back, refugees are usually dependent on help from others, including host communities, UNHCR and its many partners.
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TURKEY: Syrian refugees get chance to attend Turkish universities - 28 December 2012
ADIYAMAN REFUGEE CAMP, Turkey, Dec 27 (UNHCR) – Syrian refugee sisters Tamara and Eilada may have lost their home and most of their possessions, but not their hope for an education and a productive future.
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