Objectives
News 
The regional pledge of Syrian refugees in Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey
Carmen Munteanu - Communications Coordinator
27 June 2014
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Office for Middle East and North Africa has recently provided an update on the situation of Syrian refugees in the region.
The instability in Iraq, triggered by the fighting in Anbar governorate in Western Iraq, caused massive displacements of population in other regions of the country. In Kurdistan Region the governorates of Erbil and Dohuk received an estimated 300,000 Iraqi only in one week. Kurdistan also hosts approximately 220,000 Syrian refugees.
Around 2.8 million Syrian refugees fled to the neighbouring countries and North Africa. According to the latest statistics, Lebanon is the country with the highest number of Syrian refugees (1,100,486), followed by Turkey (773,935), Jordan (597,328), Iraq (225,409), Egypt (137,734), and North Africa (23367). 85% of Syrian refugees live outside the refugee camps, and 62% of their school age children do not attend any form of education.
Following the crisis in the region, the UN Agencies made an emergency call for an additional aid for half a million people. In these circumstances Germany will extend its humanitarian admission programme for Syrian refugees by an additional 10,000 places. Additionally, the 15 federal states of Germany that launched programmes designed to support Syrian citizens with relatives living in Germany have already issued about 5,500 visas for them.
Support in the region
Food
According to statistics, over 1.7 million people needed food supplies in May. In Lebanon the need assessment for Syrian refugees started in June 2014, and the collected data will be used to focus the assistance on the most urgent needs of the population. In Turkey food was provided through a partnership between World Food Programme and the Turkish Red Crescent that extended their assistance to other two refugee camps in Viransehir (5,000 persons) and Nusaybin (12,500 persons). Starting with June the e-Food Card programme is operational in 21 refugee camps in Turkey, covering the needs of 220,000 Syrians, but the high prices practiced by the suppliers included in the programme are a continuous challenge for the partners. In Jordan the efforts of WFP and Save the Children focused on the vulnerable cases – children diagnosed with malnutrition and pregnant women. Children were provided with Super Cereal Plus in Azraq camp while in Zaatari camp food was supplied according to a more complex nutrition programme, divided according to the specific needs of certain categories: age-appropriate food for children and supplements for children, pregnant women and nursing mothers.
In Iraq, after WFP distributed all the in-kind food products, they started to distribute vouchers which are also a form of support for local suppliers. A total of US$2.2 million have been invested into the local economy.
Reproductive health and educational sessions for refugees and health professionals
The assistance provided to refugees ranged from direct health services, targeting especially women and addressing the reproductive health, to antenatal and postnatal care, informational and educational campaigns and distribution of hygiene kits.
Egypt: UNFPA in co-operation with the national Ministry of Health and UNICEF organised a training programme for health professionals working in the medical units that provide assistance to Syrian refugees in Alexandria. The sessions approached topics such as: specific aspects related to the crisis in Syria, patient rights, refugee rights, gender based violence and concrete issues faced by Syrian refugees when accessing health services in Egypt.
Jordan: World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Ministry of Health initiated a training programme for the staff from 50 pilot-areas focused on public health monitoring, especially for communicable and non-communicable diseases that are a priority for the health authorities in the region. The programme was developed in the Zarqa, Irbid and Mafraq provinces.
Lebanon: UNICEF in co-operation with the Ministry of Public Health conducted an assessment of the primary health services in 225 vulnerable communities, in order to identify the constraints and to increase the quality of health services delivered to the refugee patients.
Kurdistan Region: because of budgetary shortages the health and educational staff working in the refugee camps have not been paid for months, and the Government faces real difficulties in covering the running costs for these camps.
The situation in the region as described by UNHCR is relevant for the unequal sharing of the burden and responsibility for humanitarian assistance between countries. The most hit countries are those neighbouring the conflict areas, most of them developing countries, some already affected by internal political instability. They have fragile institutional structures that are obliged to mobilize their resources in order to react to challenges they have not generated but which they cannot escape from.
Source: INTER-AGENCY REGIONAL RESPONSE FOR SYRIAN REFUGEES Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey 7 - 13 June 2014
http://data.unhcr.org
The instability in Iraq, triggered by the fighting in Anbar governorate in Western Iraq, caused massive displacements of population in other regions of the country. In Kurdistan Region the governorates of Erbil and Dohuk received an estimated 300,000 Iraqi only in one week. Kurdistan also hosts approximately 220,000 Syrian refugees.
Around 2.8 million Syrian refugees fled to the neighbouring countries and North Africa. According to the latest statistics, Lebanon is the country with the highest number of Syrian refugees (1,100,486), followed by Turkey (773,935), Jordan (597,328), Iraq (225,409), Egypt (137,734), and North Africa (23367). 85% of Syrian refugees live outside the refugee camps, and 62% of their school age children do not attend any form of education.
Following the crisis in the region, the UN Agencies made an emergency call for an additional aid for half a million people. In these circumstances Germany will extend its humanitarian admission programme for Syrian refugees by an additional 10,000 places. Additionally, the 15 federal states of Germany that launched programmes designed to support Syrian citizens with relatives living in Germany have already issued about 5,500 visas for them.
Support in the region
Food
According to statistics, over 1.7 million people needed food supplies in May. In Lebanon the need assessment for Syrian refugees started in June 2014, and the collected data will be used to focus the assistance on the most urgent needs of the population. In Turkey food was provided through a partnership between World Food Programme and the Turkish Red Crescent that extended their assistance to other two refugee camps in Viransehir (5,000 persons) and Nusaybin (12,500 persons). Starting with June the e-Food Card programme is operational in 21 refugee camps in Turkey, covering the needs of 220,000 Syrians, but the high prices practiced by the suppliers included in the programme are a continuous challenge for the partners. In Jordan the efforts of WFP and Save the Children focused on the vulnerable cases – children diagnosed with malnutrition and pregnant women. Children were provided with Super Cereal Plus in Azraq camp while in Zaatari camp food was supplied according to a more complex nutrition programme, divided according to the specific needs of certain categories: age-appropriate food for children and supplements for children, pregnant women and nursing mothers.
In Iraq, after WFP distributed all the in-kind food products, they started to distribute vouchers which are also a form of support for local suppliers. A total of US$2.2 million have been invested into the local economy.
Reproductive health and educational sessions for refugees and health professionals
The assistance provided to refugees ranged from direct health services, targeting especially women and addressing the reproductive health, to antenatal and postnatal care, informational and educational campaigns and distribution of hygiene kits.
Egypt: UNFPA in co-operation with the national Ministry of Health and UNICEF organised a training programme for health professionals working in the medical units that provide assistance to Syrian refugees in Alexandria. The sessions approached topics such as: specific aspects related to the crisis in Syria, patient rights, refugee rights, gender based violence and concrete issues faced by Syrian refugees when accessing health services in Egypt.
Jordan: World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Ministry of Health initiated a training programme for the staff from 50 pilot-areas focused on public health monitoring, especially for communicable and non-communicable diseases that are a priority for the health authorities in the region. The programme was developed in the Zarqa, Irbid and Mafraq provinces.
Lebanon: UNICEF in co-operation with the Ministry of Public Health conducted an assessment of the primary health services in 225 vulnerable communities, in order to identify the constraints and to increase the quality of health services delivered to the refugee patients.
Kurdistan Region: because of budgetary shortages the health and educational staff working in the refugee camps have not been paid for months, and the Government faces real difficulties in covering the running costs for these camps.
The situation in the region as described by UNHCR is relevant for the unequal sharing of the burden and responsibility for humanitarian assistance between countries. The most hit countries are those neighbouring the conflict areas, most of them developing countries, some already affected by internal political instability. They have fragile institutional structures that are obliged to mobilize their resources in order to react to challenges they have not generated but which they cannot escape from.
Source: INTER-AGENCY REGIONAL RESPONSE FOR SYRIAN REFUGEES Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey 7 - 13 June 2014
http://data.unhcr.org
Back