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UN warns of critical Syria refugee budget shortfall
AMMAN, May 31, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The United Nations made an “urgent and
critical” appeal Thursday for donations to its main aid budget for Syrian
refugees, currently four-fifths short of the total needed for the year.
“The mathematics are straightforward — we asked for $5.6 billion (4.8
billion euros)” for 2018, said Amin Awad, the UN refugee agency’s director
for the Middle East and North Africa.
“We are in May and we have about 20 percent of it.”
“UN programmes and government entities that are supporting refugees… are
running out of funds,” the UNHCR official told journalists in Jordan’s
capital.
Donors at an April conference in Brussels pledged some $4.4 billion to help
civilians affected by Syria’s devastating seven-year war, but much of that
money has yet to arrive, Awad said.
World Food Programme regional director Muhannad Hadi voiced gratitude “for
all the support the donors have given us, but we stress on the importance of
continuing this support until a political solution is found”.
Since war broke out in 2011, half of Syria’s population has been displaced,
including more than five million outside the country and another six million
internally displaced.
Most of the refugees are in countries bordering Syria, including Lebanon,
Jordan, and Turkey, whose governments have repeatedly called for more help in
supporting these populations.
BSS/AFP/RY/1725 hrs