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UN: Turkey hosts largest number of refugees in the world

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A Group of Syrian Kurds, who were sheltering in Turkey as a result of ongoing clashes between ISIS and Kurdish armed groups, return to their hometown Kobane from Sanliurfa, Turkey on February 25, 2015. Anadolu/Halil Fidan

A Group of Syrian Kurds, who were sheltering in Turkey as a result of ongoing clashes between ISIS and Kurdish armed groups, return to their hometown Kobane from Sanliurfa, Turkey on February 25, 2015. Anadolu/Halil Fidan

Turkey hosts the largest number of refugees in the world amid a “staggering” growth in displacement from Syria, the UN high commissioner for refugees said Thursday.

In a briefing to the United Nations Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Syria, the high commissioner, Antonio Guterres, said the Syrian refugee crisis overwhelmed existing response capacities, with 3.8 million refugees registered in neighboring countries.

“Lebanon and Jordan have seen their populations grow, in the space of a few years, to a point they were prepared to reach only in several decades,” said Guterres. “Meanwhile, Turkey has now become the biggest refugee-hosting country in the world.”

According to the UN refugee agency, Turkey is hosting over 1.6 million Syrian refugees, who have fled a war that has paved the way for extremist groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to gain a foothold in the region.

Syria has been gripped by almost constant fighting since peaceful protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011 turned into an armed insurgency.

Urging the international community to share the burden, Guterres said the refugee influx had severely damaged the economies of Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.

“The nature of the refugee crisis is changing” and called for “massive international support” for countries that have opened their borders to fleeing civilians,” he explained.

“As the level of despair rises, and the available protection space shrinks, we are approaching a dangerous turning point,” he added.

Lebanon’s population has grown by nearly 25 percent since the war in Syria began in 2011, with over 1.5 million Syrian refugees sheltered in a country with a population of 4 million, making it the highest per capita concentration of refugees in the world.

The refugee influx has put huge pressure on the country’s already scarce resources and poor infrastructure, education and health systems, and has also contributed to rising tensions in a nation vulnerable to security breaches and instability.

Meanwhile, Guterres warned that almost two million Syrian refugees under the age of 18, many without access to education or jobs, “risk becoming a lost generation” and over 100,000 children born in exile could become stateless.

“If this is not addressed properly, this crisis-in-making will have huge consequences not only for the future of Syria but for the whole region,” he said.

Moreover, Guterres commended a temporary protection decree issued by Turkey last year to provide Syrians with access to the country’s labor market, as well as free education and health care.

“But despite this positive development in Turkey, it is no surprise that growing desperation is forcing more and more Syrian refugees to move further afield,” he said.

He said Syrians accounted for a third of the nearly 220,000 migrants who arrived in boats to European shores last year.

“Since the start of 2015, over 370 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean — that’s one person drowning for every twenty who made it,” he said.

He warned that thousands more could face death unless Europe decides to “step up its capacity to save lives, with a robust search and rescue operation in the Central Mediterranean.”

According to a December report by Amnesty International, wealthy nations have only taken in a “pitiful” 1.7 percent of the millions of refugees uprooted by Syria’s conflict, placing the burden on the country’s ill-equipped neighbors.

At the time, the London-based rights group blasted as shocking the failure of rich nations to host more refugees.

Amnesty said it was calling for the resettlement of five percent of Syria’s refugees by the end of 2015, and another five percent the following year.

In addition to those who fled the war-ravaged country to become refugees, the UN says more than seven million Syrians are internally displaced.

The refugees face poverty, illness and growing tensions with host communities in their already-impoverished temporary homes.

As the conflict rages, there is little prospect that the more than three million Syrians who have fled to neighboring countries and beyond will be able to return home any time soon.

(Anadolu, AFP, Al-Akhbar)

UN: Syrians largest refugee group after Palestinians

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Syrian refugee children sit outside their tent near the hills of Ersal. Al-Akhbar/Marwan Tahtah

Syrian refugee children sit outside their tent near the hills of Ersal. Al-Akhbar/Marwan Tahtah

by Al-Akhbar

Syrians have overtaken Afghans as the largest refugee population aside from Palestinians, fleeing to more than 100 countries to escape war in their homeland, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

At more than 3 million as of mid-2014, Syrians accounted for nearly one in four of the 13 million refugees worldwide being assisted by the UN refugee agency, the highest figure since 1996, it said in a report. Some 5 million Palestinians refugees are cared for by a separate agency, UNRWA.

“As long as the international community continues to fail to find political solutions to existing conflicts and to prevent new ones from starting, we will continue to have to deal with the dramatic humanitarian consequences,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a statement.

At least 200,000 people have died and half the Syrian population has been displaced since the conflict began in March 2011 with protests that spiraled into violent clashes between extremist groups and the Syrian army.

Worldwide, an estimated 5.5 million people were forcibly uprooted during the first six months of last year, 1.4 million of them fleeing abroad, the UNHCR said.

The Middle East and North Africa has become the main region of origin of refugees, overtaking the Asia and Pacific region that held the top spot for more than a decade.

Afghan refugees, the biggest group for three decades, have fallen to second place, with 2.6 million hosted by Pakistan and Iran at mid-year, it said. Somalis ranked as the third largest refugee group at 1.1 million.

Syria’s neighbors — Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Turkey — continue to bear the brunt of the crisis.

Lebanon’s population has grown by nearly 25 percent since the war in Syria began in 2011, with over 1.5 million Syrian refugees sheltered in a country with a population of 4 million, making it the highest per capita concentration of refugees in the world.

“With 257 refugees per 1,000 inhabitants, Lebanon remains the country with the highest refugee density at mid-2014,” UNHCR said, noting that Jordan ranked second.

The refugee influx has put huge pressure on Lebanon’s already scarce resources and poor infrastructure, education and health systems, and has also contributed to rising tensions in a nation vulnerable to security breaches and instability.

Overwhelmed by a massive influx of desperate refugees, Lebanon began imposing unprecedented visa restrictions on Syrians on Monday.

The new rule is the latest in a series of measures taken by Lebanon to stem the influx of Syrians.

In October, Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas said Lebanon was effectively no longer receiving Syrian refugees, with limited exceptions for “humanitarian reasons.”

Meanwhile, Sweden, with 12 refugees per 1,000 inhabitants, is the only industrialized country among major hosts, ranking 10th, it said.

Syrians also formed the largest group of asylum-seekers worldwide during the first half of 2014, lodging 59,600 applications, it said. Germany and Sweden together received 40 percent of these claims, it added.

According to a report by Amnesty in December, wealthy nations have only taken in a “pitiful” number of the millions of refugees uprooted by Syria’s conflict, placing the burden on the country’s ill-equipped neighbors.

“Around 3.8 million refugees from Syria are being hosted in five main countries within the region: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt,” said Amnesty.

“Only 1.7 percent of this number have been offered sanctuary by the rest of the world,” the rights group added.

Excluding Germany, the European Union as a whole has pledged to take in only 0.17 percent of the refugees now housed in the main host countries around Syria.

“The shortfall… is truly shocking,” said Sherif Elsayed-Ali, Amnesty’s head of refugee and migrants’ rights.

“The complete absence of resettlement pledges from the Gulf is particularly shameful,” he said, adding, “linguistic and religious ties should place the Gulf states at the forefront of those offering safe shelter.”

Iraqis fleeing conflict were the second largest group of asylum-seekers during the period, at 28,900, the report said.

Last year nearly 3,500 migrants perished while trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, the UNHCR says.

(Reuters, Al-Akhbar)

U.S to accept thousands of Syrian refugees for resettlement

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Anne C. Richard (L), assistant secretary of state for population, refugees, and migration, and Nancy Lindborg (front, 2nd R), USAID assistant administrator for democracy, conflict, and humanitarian assistance, visit the Zaatari Syrian refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, Jan. 28, 2013. (Photo by REUTERS/Ali Jarekji)

Anne C. Richard (L), assistant secretary of state for population, refugees, and migration, and Nancy Lindborg (front, 2nd R), USAID assistant administrator for democracy, conflict, and humanitarian assistance, visit the Zaatari Syrian refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, Jan. 28, 2013. (Photo by REUTERS/Ali Jarekji)

by Barbara Slavin, Al-Monitor

US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Anne Richard says the United States will dramatically increase the number of Syrian refugees allowed to resettle permanently in the United States from about 350 this year to close to 10,000 annually as the crisis grinds on into its fifth year.

While the number is minuscule given a total Syrian refugee population of 3.3 million, it reflects US recognition that the civil war in Syria is not about to end anytime soon and that, even when it does, Syria will need years for reconstruction and reconciliation.

In an interview with Al-Monitor Dec. 22, Richard said, “People are surprised we haven’t taken more.” She said the initial low numbers reflect the reality that “resettling refugees is never the first thing you do when people are fleeing an emerging crisis” and that other countries — in particular Germany and Sweden — have “stepped forward and offered to take a lot” of Syrian refugees.

According to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Germany has pledged to absorb 30,000 Syrians just since 2013 — nearly half of those processed for resettlement.

“We thought that was a great offer and unusually generous so we encouraged UNHCR to take advantage of that,” Richard said.

After initial vetting by UNHCR, Syrian refugees who want to resettle in the United States must be interviewed by officers of the Department of Homeland Security at US diplomatic facilities in Amman, Jordan or Istanbul, Turkey. That leaves out a million Syrians who have fled to Lebanon and large populations in Iraq and Egypt. Richard said lack of space and security concerns have kept the United States from interviewing Syrian refugees at the US Embassy in Beirut but that US officials are looking at the possibility of setting up a refugee vetting operation in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

UNHCR seeks to identify the most vulnerable candidates, Richard said. “By Dec. 15, we had 10,000 referrals from UNHCR and they are coming in at 1,000 to 1,500 a month.”

Asked how many of those referred would be accepted, Richard said, “I think most” because they are likely to meet the United State’s definition of a refugee as someone fleeing persecution or threats because of race, ethnicity, religion, political beliefs or membership to a particular social group.

Refugees must also pass medical and security checks. “The last part has been tricky in the past,” Richard said, but added that it is not likely to be a major problem with the Syrians referred by UNHCR. She said she expected them to comprise mostly widows with children, the elderly and people with medical conditions. “It will be fairly clear that they are not terrorists bent on harming Americans,” she said.

No preference is given to those with relatives already in the United States but if they do have family among the estimated half million Syrian Americans, “we try to reunite them because that can improve their chances of doing well in the US,” Richard said.

There are large populations of Arab Americans outside Detroit and in San Diego, but the Syrian refugees who have arrived in the United States recently have been settled all around the country.

According to the latest State Department statistics, 33 Syrian refugees were sent to North Carolina so far this year, 30 to Texas, 24 to both California and Illinois, and only five to Michigan.

Richard said her office works with nine networks in the United States, six of them faith-based, to identify communities willing to help refugees find new homes. “They sign up to take certain numbers based on what their organizations can handle,” she said.

This past year has been extremely challenging for her office, and not just because of Syria. The year started with humanitarian crises in two other countries — South Sudan and the Central African Republic — followed over the summer by Ukraine, a new Gaza war, a flood of unaccompanied children from Central America crossing the US border, the Ebola epidemic in West Africa and the sudden advance of the group that calls itself the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq.

“It’s been a tough year,” Richard, who is also a former executive with the International Rescue Committee, said with some understatement.

But on the positive side, she said, “We’ve kept millions and millions of people alive” who otherwise would have succumbed to hunger and disease.

While the United States remains the world’s leader in providing humanitarian relief — allocating about $6 billion for refugee assistance, disaster assistance and food aid in the past year and $3 billion for Syria since 2011 — other countries such as Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are beginning to make regular contributions to the UN agencies that provide most humanitarian aid.

Even Saudi Arabia, which has been reluctant to participate in such UN programs in the past, gave half a million dollars to help Iraqis cope with the crisis caused by IS this summer, Richard said.

“We would like to see more governments contributing and those new to doing so to do it routinely in a dependable way … so that organizations like UNHCR and the World Food Program can plan ahead,” she said.

The United States takes in about 70,000 refugees a year, of whom Iraqis accounted for the largest number in the last fiscal year — nearly 20,000. They were followed by more than 16,000 Burmese, more than 9,000 Bhutanese, more than 7,000 Somalis and more than 4,000 Cubans. The number of Bhutanese is dwindling, however, opening up room for more Syrians.

Richard said it was her impression that the number of Syrians fleeing their country has “leveled off a little bit” but that the problem of those internally displaced and in need of aid is more acute than ever.

“A lot of people are trying to stay and make it inside Syria,” she said, noting that the number of internally displaced had grown from 6 million six months ago to 7.6 million now, with more than 200,000 in areas that cannot be reached by outsiders because of the fighting. “It’s hard for me to understand how they are managing,” she said.

The UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has floated a proposal to “freeze” the fighting, starting in Syria’s second largest city, Aleppo, to ease the humanitarian crisis there.

However, Richard expressed skepticism about the plan.

“After Staffan de Mistura came through [Washington recently], everyone wanted to give it a chance but I don’t think we have much evidence of a change,” she said. “There has been modest cooperation from the Assad regime but the thinking is that they haven’t suddenly adopted a whole new pro-humanitarian approach. It’s more that they are trying to distinguish themselves from [IS],” she said..

Others who work on the Syria crisis also expressed pessimism about a near-term solution to the conflict.

“I can’t believe that I’m still doing this after almost four years,” Sasha Ghosh-Siminoff, president and co-founder of an aid group called People Demand Change, told Al-Monitor. “When I left Syria in 2011, we all thought the regime would decide to save itself and make reforms, crumble quickly or that the international community would step in. Unfortunately none of that has come to pass.”

UN agencies appeal for $8.4 million to address Syrian refugee crisis

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Displaced Syrian children stand in muddy water after heavy rains in the Bab al-Salama camp for people fleeing the violence in Syria on December 11, 2014, on the border with Turkey. AFP / Baraa al-Halabi

Displaced Syrian children stand in muddy water after heavy rains in the Bab al-Salama camp for people fleeing the violence in Syria on December 11, 2014, on the border with Turkey. AFP / Baraa al-Halabi

by Al Akhbar

The UN appealed on Thursday for $8.4 billion to provide emergency aid and longer-term help to nearly 18 million people in Syria and across the region hit by the drawn-out conflict.

Meanwhile, the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF appealed for $900 million to help children affected by the war in Syria.

For the first time, the United Nations’ appeal includes funding for life-saving food, shelter and other humanitarian aid, as well as development support, as the bloody war in Syria heads towards a fifth year.

UN agencies said at the appeal launch in Berlin that $2.9 billion (2.4 billion euros) were needed to help 12.2 million people inside Syria in 2015.

A further $5.5 billion is eyed for Syrians who have sought refuge in neighboring countries and for more than a million people in host communities, it said.

The Berlin appeal for Syria is slightly higher than an indicative amount announced in Geneva earlier this month, which did not include funding needs of neighboring countries.

The UN is planning for up to 4.3 million refugees in countries neighboring Syria by the end of 2015, it added.

“For those that think that this is a lot of money, I don’t remember any bailout of any medium-sized bank that has cost less than this,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres told reporters.

He warned that refugees and people displaced inside Syria had exhausted their savings and that host countries were at “breaking point.”

United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said Syria had slumped from a middle income country to struggling with widespread poverty.

“People affected by conflict need food, shelter, water, medicine and protection. But they also need support in rebuilding their livelihoods, maintaining education and health services and rebuilding fragmented communities,” Amos, UN under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, said.

“The conflict in Syria is not only destroying people’s lives today but will continue to erode their capacity to cope far into the future if we don’t take a more holistic approach now,” she added.

Germany hosted an international conference on the Syrian refugee crisis in October which vowed to extend long-term financial aid to countries such as Lebanon and Jordan struggling under the influx of millions of Syrian refugees.

“The humanitarian crisis in Syria and the neighboring countries poses a threat to the stability of the whole region,” Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Thursday.

“This is a call to the solidarity of all nations, and my country is willing to do its part,” he added.

UNICEF asks for $900 million for Syrian children

The appeal comes hours after the UNICEF said it needs more than $900 million to help children affected by the war in Syria next year, and appealed to donors for support.

“The Syria crisis represents the biggest threat to children of recent times,” UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, Maria Calivis, said ahead of the major UN appeal for Syrian refugees. “By the end of 2015, the lives of over 8.6 million children across the region will have been torn apart by violence and forced displacement.”

Calivis said the agency’s plans for next year include doubling both the number of Syrian children with access to safe water and sanitation, and the number with access to education.

The agency will continue vaccination campaigns against polio, she said, and deliver care including cash grants and winter clothing to the families of some 850,000 children affected by the conflict.

“These commitments – costed at $903 million (732 million euros) – represent the bare minimum,” she said, calling on supporters “to help us make these commitments a reality.”

Earlier in December, UNICEF declared 2014 a devastating year for children with as many as 15 million caught in conflicts in Palestine, Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, Central African Republic, and Ukraine.

A UN panel investigating war crimes in Syria cited in a report in November cases of abductions, rape and other forms of sexual and physical violence against women and children, including the forced recruitment of minors by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The UN report also said that the US-led airstrikes against ISIS in Syria and Iraq “have led to some civilian casualties,” including scores of children.

Syria’s conflict, which evolved from mass demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime to a war that has left more than 200,000 dead, has forced more than half of the country’s population to flee their homes.

A UN refugee agency (UNHCR) report published mid November shows that about 13.6 million people have been displaced by conflict in Syria and Iraq, many without food or shelter as winter starts. The 13.6 include 7.2 million displaced within Syria, in addition to the estimated 3.3 million Syrian refugees abroad.

On December 9, the World Food Program (WFP) announced that the UN will resume food aid to Syrian refugees in neighboring countries, following a campaign to raise funds for a halted program offering food vouchers.

The announcement came after a campaign by the WFP seeking funds to cover a $64 million shortfall which had forced the agency to suspend the program at the beginning of December.

Amnesty International announced this month that wealthy nations have only taken in a “pitiful” number of the millions of refugees uprooted by Syria’s conflict, placing the burden on the country’s ill-equipped neighbors.

“Around 3.8 million refugees from Syria are being hosted in five main countries within the region: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt,” said Amnesty.

“Only 1.7 percent of this number have been offered sanctuary by the rest of the world,” the rights group added.

It is worth noting that the US House of Representatives adopted a $584.2 billion annual defense spending bill on December, which includes emergency funding for military operations against ISIS and training and equipping the so-called “moderate” Syrian rebels. However, it doesn’t include providing any humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees.

The US annual defense bill could secure WFP’s humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees for roughly 700 years.

(AFP, Al-Akhbar)

The silent deaths of refugees in Ersal: 18 perished in 45 days

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Syrian refugee children sit outside their tent near the hills of Ersal. Al-Akhbar/Marwan Tahtah

Syrian refugee children sit outside their tent near the hills of Ersal. Al-Akhbar/Marwan Tahtah

by Eva Shoufi, Al Akhbar

The security situation in Ersal made everyone forget that there are 80,000 refugees living there in a harsh climate and poor medical conditions. In a month and a half, there has been 18 deaths among refugees in Ersal, including 12 children, that we heard nothing of. These same security conditions had led international organizations to abandon the town in August, leaving behind innocent people dying silently one by one.

Fourteen-year-old Kh. F. – let’s call him Khaled – died on December 9. Before him, F. H. – an 18-day-old infant – died because no one could take her to a hospital outside Ersal. We saw another 17-day-old infant dying. We did not ask her name, her face was enough to call her Malak (Angel). Born in a tent, she died from the cold, as did others. Just this week, four Syrian children died in Ersal.

Eleven refugees, including nine children, have died in Ersal since the beginning of December, joining seven others who died in November. We are discussing here 18 deaths, including 12 children, in a span of one month and a half. Twelve children die and people carry on with their lives as usual, this is a tragedy for humanity even before being a tragedy for the refugees themselves. The number of deaths is likely higher because the figure we have is based only on information from al-Hay’a al-Toubia field hospital in Ersal. This means dozens of children are dying without anyone hearing about them.

There is something strange about the death of these children passing without the uproar we’ve gotten used to, an uproar that in actuality never got us anywhere. But still, having someone scream in the face of this death is necessary, it tells us that there is still a pulse beating in this world. The absence of any noise, however, killed this pulse.

These numbers were announced by Dr. Qassem al-Zein, who heads al-Hay’a al-Toubia facility in Ersal. He said the medical situation in the town is catastrophic, pointing out that this is just the number of deaths at al-Hay’a hospital. Three children died this month from pneumonia caused by the cold weather, he added. What is shocking is that all these deaths are in Ersal and not the hills of Ersal, except one person who came from the hills for treatment at the makeshift hospital.

The hospital report refers to Malak who was born in a tent in the hills of Ersal. She was 17-days-old when she came to the hospital on the morning of December 3, ill from the cold. Her tiny body interceded for her at the checkpoint to get to the hospital. There were no empty incubators available, however, “so the hospital sent her inside Lebanon but al-Laboui checkpoint prevented her parents from crossing so she returned to al-Hay’a hospital with its modest capabilities where she passed away at 2:00 pm.” Her tiny body could not take it anymore. Malak died.

Khaled died on December 9 from acute kidney failure. The other five children died due to birth defects in their skulls and limbs, according to Zein. Serious concerns are raised about the reasons behind these birth defects. Zein noticed that at the beginning of the crisis and the influx of refugees, “we used to see one case of congential disease per month. Today, we see four cases per month.” The doctor is not sure about the reason but he said that “a lot of women were in Syria early on in their pregnancy, that’s why I think these congenital diseases are due to substances used in the shelling.”

The medical situation in Ersal is catastrophic, but it has not spurred international organizations to return to the town to save the lives of innocent refugees. Not that long ago, there was a Hepatitis A outbreak in Ersal and more than 150 refugees were infected due to water contamination. Now, Zein said “the mumps is beginning to spread among children as 24 cases of infection were recorded last month. Bad conditions from the cold weather, malnutrition, lack of hygiene and overcrowding in the camps exacerbate health problems leading to testicular, pancreatic and other infections.”

The union of relief and development organizations working in Ersal said the conduct of the Lebanese army varies depending on the security situation but most of the time, it allows drug shipments to pass after inspecting them. Before the clashes that erupted last August (between the Lebanese army on one hand and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and al-Nusra Front on the other), al-Hay’a hospital was able to procure 90 percent of the drugs it needs. Today, it can barely get 40 percent because of the dangerous commute.

A medical source in the hills of Ersal spoke of the tragic health conditions among the refugees living there. “Some children and women are sick and urgently need to go to Ersal. There are a lot of cases of asthma and bronchitis, not to mention flu and common colds.” There is also a severe shortage of medication among the refugees and one death was recorded during the storm, according to the source.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it is in constant contact with field hospitals and clinics in Ersal, providing them with drugs and vaccines through its partners. External Relations Assistant at UNHCR in the Bekaa, Lisa Abu Khaled, said the UNHCR transfers critical cases to hospitals that have signed contracts with them, but sometimes parents do not go because the road is dangerous. She refused to acknowledge any deaths except that of a three-year-old girl whose family could not transfer her to the hospital recommended by the UNHCR. The Commission learned of only two cases of the mumps virus. Abu Khaled said there are vaccines for this virus in the Amel Association Clinic in Ersal, as well as in mobile clinics in the town.

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