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EU warns Syria crisis at 'breaking point', increases aid

Agence France-PresseMay 12, 2013 11:46
The European Commission announced on Sunday an additional 65 million euros ($84 million) in aid for Syrian refugees and internally displaced, warning the crisis is "already at breaking point". The announcement was made in a statement released to coincide with a visit to Syrian refugees in Jordan by humanitarian aid commissioner Kristalina Georgieva. "The more atrocities and fighting go on in Syria, the more people run. There are no indications whatsoever that this ... is going to go down," Georgieva told AFP after visiting the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan's north.

Turkey protect Syrian refugees after bombings backlash

Agence France-PresseMay 12, 2013 08:15
Turkish police moved on Sunday to protect Syrian refugees after residents of Reyhanli turned their anger on them in the wake of twin bombings that killed at least 46 people in this border town with Syria. As cranes removed charred debris from the scenes of Saturday's twin car bombings, blamed on pro-Damascus forces, dozens of cars with Syrian plates lay vandalised in the town's streets. There was not much left standing near rain-filled craters hollowed out by the force of the explosions, except for random pieces of torn clothing, stained with blood and mud.

US unveiling extra $100 mn for Syrian refugees

Agence France-PresseMay 8, 2013 19:00
The United States is to give another $100 million to help provide humanitarian aid to the Syrian refugees, boosting its total to $510 million, the State Department said Wednesday. The additional funds, due to be officially announced on Thursday by Secretary of State John Kerry, will help fund UN programmes providing shelter, food and help to refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey as well as inside Syria, the department said in a statement. jkb/ide/bm

Russia's Lavrov opposed to UN Syrian refugee visit

Agence France-PresseMay 3, 2013 13:46
The UN Security Council is not entitled to give the green light for inspections of Syrian refugee camps in Jordan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday, seeing it as an attempt to prepare "foreign intervention". The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) "is competent for (organising) visits of refugee camps that have been set by the UN, the Security Council has no competence for that," Lavrov said in Slovenia.

Pope calls for 'greater aid' for Syrian refugees in Lebanon

Agence France-PresseMay 3, 2013 12:46
Pope Francis called Friday for greater humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and surrounding countries, after meeting with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman at the Vatican. "The huge number of Syrian refugees who have sought refuge in Lebanon and the neighbouring countries gives rise to particular concern," the Vatican said following the talks. "Greater humanitarian aid is called for, for the refugees and the suffering population, with the support of the international community," it said.

Russia, China oppose UN visit to Syrian refugee camps

Agence France-PresseMay 3, 2013 02:30
A majority of UN Security Council members support a trip to inspect Syrian refugee camps inside Jordan but Russia and China remain opposed to a visit, diplomats said Thursday. Jordan this week warned that the growing exodus of Syrian refugees who had flooded over its border to escape civil war -- already over 500,000 -- was placing a "crushing weight" on the country. Jordanian Ambassador Prince Zeid al-Hussein met UN Security Council envoys on Tuesday and later said the refugee crisis represented a threat to the country's future stability.

Italian coast guards rescue Syrian refugees

Agence France-PresseMay 1, 2013 16:15
Italian coast guards on Wednesday rescued dozens of Syrian refugees including a child apparently injured in war in a group of 70 migrants found on a broken-down fishing boat off the tip of southern Italy. The boy, who was travelling with his mother, had a scar on his neck, the ANSA news agency reported, citing officials in the southern Calabria region. The report did not say where the boat had set off from.

45,865 Syrians return home from Jordan since July

Agence France-PresseApril 29, 2013 11:16
More than 45,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their war-torn country from a northern Jordanian refugee camp over the past nine months, a Jordanian official said on Monday. Colonel Zaher Abu Shehab, who runs the Zaatari refugee camp, said a total of 45,865 Syrian refugees "have agreed to voluntarily leave the camp and return home" since July 2012, Petra news agency reported. "Every day between 300 and 400 refugees express the desire to go back to Syria," he added.

Syrian refugees denied health care due cash crunch - UNHCR

April 26, 2013 11:31
By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - Doctors at Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan are having to decide between treating acute cancer patients and helping deliver babies due to severe shortages of cash, the United Nations said on Friday. More than 1.4 million Syrian refugees have now fled their shattered homeland for neighbouring countries whose health care systems are straining to meet the needs of their populations, in some cases suddenly swollen by 20 percent, it said.

78,000 Bhutan refugees move to West

Agence France-PresseApril 26, 2013 09:46
Some 78,000 Bhutanese refugees have moved to the West from camps in Nepal where they have been living for two decades after being forced out of their homeland, the United Nations said Friday. The refugees have been offered new lives in the United States and other countries following the failure of years of negotiations to secure their return to Bhutan, which says they were illegal immigrants.
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