Syria conflict: UN says more than 3m have fled war

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="caption full-width" style="clear: both; float: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; position: relative;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>   </b></span><img alt="Hundreds of Syrian refugees stream across the border into Jordan at a remote border point in the east" height="426" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77245000/jpg/_77245927_refugees-full.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; position: relative;" width="624" /></span><span style="display: block; width: 624px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The countries that have taken in the refugees say the number could be far higher than three million</span></span></div> <div class="embedded-hyper" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px -160px 0px 16px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; width: 144px;"> <a class="hidden" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28977117#story_continues_1" style="font-weight: bold; left: -5000px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; top: -5000px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Continue reading the main story</span></span></a><br /> <div class="hyperpuff"> <h2 style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 12px 0px; position: relative; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"> <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17258397" style="display: block; margin-bottom: -13px; margin-top: -13px; padding: 13px 8px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; z-index: 1;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Syria conflict</span></span></a></h2> <ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px;"> <li style="background-image: none; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-rendering: auto;"><a class="story" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28870611" rel="published-1408578132703" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">'No-one cares'</span></a></li> <li style="background-image: none; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-rendering: auto;"><a class="story" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27882197" rel="published-1403005310851" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">'Till the last drop of blood'</span></a></li> <li style="background-image: none; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-rendering: auto;"><a class="story" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27866021" rel="published-1402922125014" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">Suffering in west Aleppo</span></a></li> <li style="background-image: none; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-rendering: auto;"><a class="story" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27687018" rel="published-1401818657315" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">Defiant rebels</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="clear: left; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">More than three million Syrians are now registered as refugees and the desperate crisis is only getting worse, the UN's refugee agency says.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://www.unhcr.org/53ff78ac9.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">The UNHCR says</a> Syria is now "the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era" with almost half of all Syrians forced to flee their homes.</span></span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The majority of refugees have fled to countries neighbouring Syria, with most now seeking shelter in Lebanon.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">More than 190,000 have been killed in Syria's three-year civil war.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Opposition groups in Syria have been fighting forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad since his government violently suppressed protests against his rule in March 2011.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The situation has been worsened in recent months by the formation and advance of the Islamic State group, which now controls large swathes of Syria and Iraq.</span></div> <span class="cross-head" style="display: block; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 0px 16px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">'Exhausted and scared'</span></span><br /> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The UNHCR says one in every eight Syrians has fled across the border and a further 6.5 million are displaced within Syria. It says more than half of those uprooted are children.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The number of registered Syrian refugees has soared from two million just under a year ago.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Families arriving at refugee camps in neighbouring countries are exhausted and scared, with some having spent a year or more fleeing from village to village inside Syria.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The UN agency says the journey out of Syria is also becoming tougher, with many people forced to pay bribes to armed gangs.</span></div> <div class="caption body-width" style="clear: both; float: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; position: relative;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="Grey line" height="2" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77207000/jpg/_77207535_464x2.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; position: relative;" width="464" /></span></div> <span class="cross-head" style="display: block; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 0px 16px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Where Syrian refugees are</span></span><br /> <div class="caption full-width" style="clear: both; float: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; position: relative;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="Aysha, 5, stands outside an abandoned building in Istanbul that has been her home for half a year" height="416" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77243000/jpg/_77243553_lil-girl.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; position: relative;" width="624" /></span><span style="display: block; width: 624px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Aysha, 5, stands outside an abandoned building in Istanbul, Turkey, that has been her home for half a year</span></span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong>1,175,504</strong> in Lebanon</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong>832,508</strong> in Turkey</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong>613,252</strong> in Jordan</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong>215,369</strong> in Iraq</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong>139,090</strong> in Egypt</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong>23,367</strong> in North Africa</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong>6.5 million</strong> others are displaced within Syria</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Source: UNHCR</span></div> <div class="caption body-width" style="clear: both; float: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; position: relative;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="Grey line" height="2" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77207000/jpg/_77207535_464x2.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; position: relative;" width="464" /></span></div> <div class="caption full-width" style="clear: both; float: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; position: relative;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="An aerial view shows the Zaatari refugee camp, near the Jordanian city of Mafraq - 18 July 2013" height="411" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77246000/jpg/_77246117_camp.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; position: relative;" width="624" /></span><span style="display: block; width: 624px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Thousands of Syria refugees have ended up at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan since fleeing the civil war</span></span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In addition to the registered refugees, Syria's neighbours estimate that hundreds of thousands more Syrians have sought sanctuary in their countries - causing enormous strain.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"The Syrian crisis has become the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era, yet the world is failing to meet the needs of refugees and the countries hosting them," said Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"The response to the Syrian crisis has been generous, but the bitter truth is that it falls far short of what's needed."</span></div> <div class="story-feature narrow" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px -160px 16px 16px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; width: 144px;"> <a class="hidden" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28977117#story_continues_2" style="font-weight: bold; left: -5000px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; top: -5000px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Continue reading the main story</span></span></a><br /> <h2 class="quote" style="background-image: url(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/view/3_0_21/cream/hi/shared/img/story_sprite.png); background-position: 0px -188px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(216, 216, 216); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(216, 216, 216); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 6px 0px 5px; position: relative; text-indent: -500px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"> <div style="text-indent: 0px;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“</span></span></div> <span style="display: block; margin: 0px 0px 5px; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Start Quote</span></span></span></h2> <blockquote style="display: inline; float: left; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <div class="first-child" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The response to the Syrian crisis has been generous, but the bitter truth is that it falls far short of what's needed”</span></div> </blockquote> <span class="quote-credit" style="clear: both; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 8px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Antonio Guterres</span></span><span class="quote-credit-title" style="clear: both; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 8px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">UN High Commissioner for Refugees</span></span></div> <span class="cross-head" style="display: block; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 0px 16px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">'Violence at a new level'</span></span><br /> <div id="story_continues_2" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On Thursday, French President Francois Hollande voiced his regret that the West had failed "to find a solution for the situation in Syria," saying the consequences were clear to all.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Bashar al-Assad's regime continues without restraint its policy of repression. Refugees continue to gather, their numbers increasing every day, in the neighbouring countries. And terrorist groups are winning more territory - that's the result," he said.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The UN's deputy humanitarian chief, Kyung-wha Kang, said Islamic State was taking violence against civilians in Syria "to a new level" and threatening aid operations in the country.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But US President Barack Obama insisted Thursday that the West would not contemplate working with President Assad against the extremist group.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span><br /> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I don't think there's a situation where we have to choose between Assad or the kinds of people who carry on the incredible violence that we've been seeing there," he told reporters at the White House.</span></div> <div> <br /></div> </div> </div>

Syria conflict: UN says more than 3m have fled war

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