Göttingen, 25. Juli 2012 The Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraqi Kurdistan are in desperate need of better protection and more assistance. Therefore, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) sent an appeal to the Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Wednesday, urging him to try and persuade the governments of Syria's neighboring countries to provide help for the people in need. According to the human rights organization, the measures taken so far were not sufficient to ensure safety for the refugees or to provide them with enough food and drinking water. Jordan needs to build new refugee camps to relieve the hopelessly overcrowded existing camps. There is not enough drinking water, food or fuel either. The communities in northern Lebanon – which are admitting many Syrian refugees in spite of their own distress – are in desperate need.
The Syrian army uses tanks and helicopters to fight and to terrorize the opposition and the civilian population. But the Sunni rebels don't spare their opponents – including members of the Alawite and Christian religious communities – either. 120,000 refugees from Syria have already sought protection in the neighboring states because of the escalating violence. On Monday, the Iraqi central government in Baghdad had finally decided to open the borders for fleeing civilians.
According to the UNHCR, there are more than 37,000 Syrian refugees registered in Turkey so far. Approximately 50 percent of them are children and young people. There were 29.986 Syrian refugees registered in neighboring Lebanon on July 20, 2012 – and more than 34,000 refugees were admitted to Jordan by now. Around 6,500 people – nearly only Kurds – fled from Syria to the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq.
A detailed report on the situation of the refugees can be ordered from the STP by email: nahost@gfbv.de
The STP's Middle East consultant, Dr. Kamal Sido, can be contacted by phone for inquiries:
+49 (0) 551 - 499 06 18.
Translated by Robert Kurth
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