UN aid chief warns of gravity of humanitarian crisis in Syria

Source:Xinhua Published: 2014-10-22 8:40:19

The UN under-secretary- general for humanitarian affairs, Valerie Amos, reminded the international community of the gravity of Syria's humanitarian crisis and called for additional support to displaced people before long winter arrives, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Tuesday.

After a two-day visit to Turkey, Amos "called for additional support to people who have been displaced by fighting before the long winter sets in," Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here. "She also called for more support to countries hosting Syrian refugees."

"Almost 10 million people have been displaced internally or have left Syria altogether," he said. "In a matter of weeks, nearly 200,000 civilians have fled Syria into Turkey."

Turkey is one of Syria's neighboring countries which received a massive influx of Syrian refugees who fled the ongoing Syrian conflict, which broke out after a political crisis in the Middle East country in March 2011.

"Ms. Amos stressed that the UN and its partners will continue to do all it can to help those in need but said that there is a limit to what the humanitarian community can do, and she called for an urgent political solution to the conflict," the spokesman added.

During her visit to Turkey, Amos, who is also the UN emergency relief coordinator, met the displaced Syrians at the Yibo Transit Center in Suruc, southern Turkey, close to the border with Syria. The center shelters 5,000 people -- half of them children -- who have fled from Syria, Dujarric told reporters here Monday, adding that Amos spoke to the press in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, on Monday and she emphasized that the people she saw need shelter and other help.

"She also emphasized the need for a political solution in Syria, " he said.

Posted in: Mid-East

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