São Paulo – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported this Wednesday (13th) that commissioner António Guterres, who is in charge of the organization, called on donor countries to supply extraordinary funds in order to aid Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries.
The UN official gave a statement following meetings with the king of Jordan, Abdullah II, and the Jordanian foreign minister Nasser Judeh, in Amman. According to the UNHCR, Jordan is sheltering over 450,000 refugees from Syria.
The United Nations estimate that more than 1 million people have fled Syria since the civil war erupted two years ago. Guterres said recently that the figure may reach 3 million by the end of the year, not counting the internally displaced people.
“This is not just any crisis. It requires a special mechanism of support,” said the commissioner, according to a UNHCR press release. To him, “there is no way this can be funded by normal humanitarian budgets,” and if no further donations occur “the consequences could be devastating for the Syrian people and for regional stability.”
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
