1. SYRIA-REFUGEES
ONCE A SHELTER FOR REFUGEES, SYRIA IS NOW THE FASTEST REFUGEES
PRODUCING COUNTRY.
KUWAIT CITY, Jan XX (Bernama) – As if the bloody crisis is not enough to bring miseries
into their lives, the toll of Syrians that are internally displaced and leaving the country to seek
refuge in the neighbouring countries continue to rise.
After nearly three years drenched in blood and bombarded by the parties of the conflict,
Syria crisis continues to deepen.
The crisis saw the country that was once world’s second largest refugee hosting
country, including the Palestinian refugees, became the fastest refugees producing country
today, causing economic instability to the hosting community and countries.
United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon in his opening speech at the second
international pledging conference, held here recently, described the on-going conflict in Syria
has now become a regional crisis.
“Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt are now home to more than three million
Syrians who have fled,” he said, adding that more than 80 per cent of Palestinian refugees
inside Syria are in need of humanitarian aid, stressing that he is concern about the reports of
starvation.
Ban noted that the refugee crisis is causing great hardship and raising tensions
throughout the region as it directly linked to increasing instability and conflict, car bombs and
sectarian violence in Iraq and Lebanon and is undermining the economies development.
“We must do more to support host countries,” said Ban, stressing that no country, no
people should face hardship or calamity for helping Syrians in need.
ISLAM IN THE PROTECTION OF REFUGEES
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Antonio Guterres in his
speech at the conference, commended the teaching of Islam with regards to the refugees’
protection.
Addressing delegations from 62 countries and more than 29 regional organisations, he
said the neighbouring countries’ generosity and readiness to shelter refugees from danger is
deeply rooted in Islamic law and tradition.
“In fact, the most beautiful sentence I have ever read on refugee protection is not from
the 1951 Refugee Convention, but from Surah At-Taubah, verse six. This is a remarkable
example of religious tolerance and commitment to refugee protection in Islam,” he noted.

2. The former Portuguese Prime Minister cited the verse, which reads: “If one amongst
the non-believers asks thee for asylum, grant it to him, so that he may hear the word of Allah,
and then escort him to where he can be secure.”
He said that the generosity of Syria’s neighbours need to be matched by massive
international support, in a true spirit of effective burden-sharing, which is essential to
preserving the asylum space for people fleeing the conflict.
“Countries in the region need strong financial assistance, but they also need others to
help carry the burden of actually taking in and protecting refugees,” he said, calling all
countries to keep their borders open for the refugees.
SOCIO AND ECONOMIC SITUATION OF THE HOSTING COUNTRIES
The UNHCR High Commissioner, while explaining the importance of assisting the
refugees, said that the hosting countries have received an unrelenting steam of fleeing Syrians
and have provided them protection, at enormous cost to themselves.
“The pressure is felt heavily in all areas of daily life as budget deficits are increasing;
growth suffers; and jobs, salaries and price levels are affected across the region, leaving local
families struggling to make ends meet,” he said.
According to Guterres, the presence of over 860,000 registered Syrian refugees in
Lebanon is equivalent to 66 million refugees arriving suddenly in the United States, 17 million
in Germany and over 280 million in China.
“As a result of the refugee influx, Lebanon’s population has already grown to the level
it was expected to reach only in 2050. By end of this year, the World Bank estimates that
unemployment in Lebanon may double, and an additional 170,000 Lebanese risk being pushed
into poverty,” he explained.
A joint World Bank-United Nations study estimated that the conflict has cut gross
domestic product (GDP) in Lebanon by nearly three per cent annually, leading to a total loss
of up to US$7.5 billion.
For the resource-poor country, Jordan, Guterres said that hundreds of millions of
additional subsidies are being paid by the government to ensure refugees have access to water,
bread, gas and electricity at the same prices as Jordanians, estimating the cost of hosting them
at some US$1.7 billion so far.
He further added that Turkey has spent US$2.5 billion on assisting Syrian refugees
since the beginning of the crisis, which mostly drawn from its own budget and in northern Iraq,
the population of Dohuk governorate has increased by over 10 per cent because of the refugee
influx.

3. Meanwhile according to UNHCR’s Regional Response Plan 5 (RRP5) Preliminary
Report for the period of January to December 2013, the total registered Syrian refugees in
Egypt have surpassed the initial projection of 100,000 refugees when UNHCR registered
130,000 refugees in November.
With no camps, Syrian refugees are currently living in three main urban areas in Egypt
namely Greater Cairo, Alexandria, and Damietta, as well as other smaller urban areas
throughout the country, the report said.
WHAT WILL THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR SYRIAN REFUGEES?
According to Guterres, the UNHCR is expecting the number of refugees in the region
surrounding Syria to rise as high as 4.1 million by the end of 2014 based on last year’s arrival
trends.
“Their needs, as well as those of local people sheltering them in neighbouring countries,
are enormous.
“As the conflict rages on and the neighbouring countries are stretched beyond capacity,
I hope more countries farther afield will provide Syrian refugees with additional forms of
protection,” he added.
The Second International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria, held here on
Jan 15, aimed to raise US$6.5 billion for some 11.6 million Syrians facing extreme conditions
inside the country and in neighbouring nations.
The one day conference, opened by Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah,
and chaired by United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, however only managed
to raise US$2.4 billion at the end of the conference.
--BERNAMA
IAMS