Press Releases, 19 December 2012
Geneva, 19 December 2012
The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, lifesaving needs of civilians who flee Syria every hour of the day – many in a truly desperate condition."
The new US$1 billion appeal is based on planning estimates that up to 1 million Syrian refugees will need help during the first half of 2013.
Currently in the countries immediately surrounding Syria 525,000 Syrians have either registered as refugeesr. Moumtzis. "Their lives are in turmoil. They have lost their homes and family members. By the time they reach the borders, they are exhausted, traumatised and with little or no resources to rely on."
The 2013 plan aims at redoubling efforts to protect vulnerable refugees, with a big emphasis on community outreach to refugees living in urban environments. Much of this work is conducted by the 43 national and international NGOs included in the appeal.
Specific activities focusing on children, women, the elderly and survivors of sexual and gender based violence are planned for.
"Children make up roughly half of the refugees crowded into camps and host communities across five countries, and their numbers rise inexorably," said Maria Calivis,.
This plan includes Egypt for the first time. To date 10,474 Syrians are registered by UNHCR. According to government figures tens of thousands more are in the country. Another new development in the plan is support for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) activities for Palestinians who have fled Syria for Lebanon.
This appeal is the fourth update of the Syria Regional Response Plan, first launched in March 2012. The 2012 Regional Response Plan for Syrian refugees received 70% of the US$487 million appealed for.
Statistics:
LEBANON (17 December)
Number of Syrians registered and pending registration with UNHCR: 159,277
JORDAN (17 December)
Number of Syrians registered and pending registration with UNHCR: 148,592
TURKEY (Government of Turkey figures dated 16 December)
Number of Syrians registered in camps: 141,240
IRAQ (16 December)
Number of Syrians registered with UNHCR: 66,048
EGYPT (16 December)
Number of Syrians registered with UNHCR: 10,474
Total number of Syrians registered and pending registration: 525,631
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