Monday, August 27, 2012

Syrian refugees top 200,000 as exodus grows-UN agency

GENEVA — More than 200,000 Syrians have poured into neighboring countries in the course of its 17-month-long conflict, with a recent surge pushing the total past the 185,000 the U.N. refugee agency had expected to flee by the end of this year.

The total reflects an increase of about 30,000 in the past week alone to Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan but also includes those awaiting registration in Jordan, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.


“There has been a dramatic increase in the number of refugees in the region during August,” spokesman Adrian Edwards said in Geneva on Friday, adding that the agency expected to issue new contingency planning figures by around mid-September.
Turkey continues to see the largest refugee influx, with more than 74,000 registered as of Wednesday, Edwards said.

More than 3,500 people fleeing violence in Syria have entered Turkey over the past 24 hours, Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate said Friday, one of the highest daily flows since the start of the uprising.

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