Syrian refugees could reach 700,000
The UN's refugee agency has
almost quadrupled its estimate for the number
of people expected to flee the violence in Syria, Reuters reports
The number of refugees fleeing Syria could reach 700,000 by the end of the year, the UN refugee agency said, far surpassing its previous forecast of 185,000 reached in August.About 294,000 Syrian refugees fleeing 18 months of conflict in their homeland have already crossed into four neighboring countries – Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey – or await registration there, it said."This plan provides for up to 700,000," Panos Moumtzis, regional refugee coordinator for the UN refugee agency UNHCR, told a news briefing.
• The
death toll in Syria reached 343 on Wednesday – the highest daily toll since
uprising began, CNN reports citing the activist group, the Local Co-ordination
Committees in Syria. Rafif Jouejati, a spokeswoman for the LCC,
said: "The regime is escalating the violence at every possible opportunity and
it is proof that it is determined to crush the revolution by any means
necessary." The greatest number of dead on Wednesday occurred in
Damascus and its suburbs, where LCC cited 162 deaths, including 107 in a
reported massacre in Thiabieh.
No comments:
Post a Comment