U.N.: Syrian Refugee Numbers May Double or Triple this Year
The number of Syrian refugees, which just passed the million mark, could double or triple by the end of the year if no solution is found to the conflict, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said Sunday.
"Now if this escalation goes on and nothing happens to solve the problem we might have in the end of the year a much larger number of refugees: twice or three times the present level," he told reporters in Ankara.
His warning came days after the U.N. announced that the number of Syrian refugees hit one million since the revolt erupted in their homeland two years ago.
A year ago, the U.N. agency had only registered 33,000 refugees, but the numbers escalated as the war intensified, sending waves of refugees into neighbouring countries.
Guterres is in Turkey to meet officials and discuss the situation of the more than 180,000 refugees who have taken shelter in several camps set up along Turkey-Syria border.
Ankara says the real number is much higher as at least 70,000 others live in houses they have rented elsewhere in Turkey.
"There's a risk of spillover in this conflict...If the Syrian conflict will go on and on and on, there is an effecting risk of explosion in the Middle East," Guterres warned.
To protect Turkey from any such spillover, NATO has deployed in Turkey six Patriot missile batteries shipped from Germany, The Netherlands and The United States in January.
The U.N. official was scheduled to visit a refugee camp in the southeastern city of Gaziantep later in the day to observe the living conditions of the refugees there.
Turkey, a one-time Syria ally now vehemently opposed to President Bashar Assad's regime, has also taken in Syrian army defectors who form the core of the Free Syrian Army.
Source: Agence France Presse
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