SITUATION OF SYRIAN REFUGEES

 It is utterly heartbreaking to see the constant

calls from humanitarian organizations to put
an end to the violence, suffering, and
devastation of Syrian people, go unnoticed. 
-Syria Response Director Wynn Flaten
 War broke the social and business ties that bound neighbors to their
community. So millions scattered, creating the largest refugee and
displacement crisis of our time. More than 5.6 million Syrians have fled
the country as refugees, and 6.1 million are displaced within Syria — as
internally displaced people (IDPs). Half of the people affected by the
terrible results are children.

• Healthcare centers and hospitals, schools, utilities, and water and

sanitation systems are damaged or destroyed. Historic landmarks and
once-busy marketplaces have been reduced to rubble.

• In 2018, hundreds of thousands of Syrians have fled fighting in other areas

to the relative safety of the Northwestern region
• Conflict and displacement are intensifying in northwest Syria. Hundreds of
thousands of people have fled their homes since mid-December 2017.
Most internally displaced people are living in makeshift shelters with little
access to aid. Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, is another area of intense
fighting unreached by aid.

• In 2017, 74 cases of polio were detected in Syria, which was polio-free

before the civil war.

• Before the civil war, Aleppo was a financial and industrial center and
Syria’s largest city; it also contained a large population of Christians. Now
it is reduced to the second-largest city in Syria and recognized as the
worst-hit during the Syrian civil war.

• An estimated 13.1 million people in Syria need humanitarian assistance as

a result of the civil war that began in 2011.
Where are Syrian refugees going?
 The majority of Syria’s 5.6 million refugees have fled — by land and sea —
across borders to neighboring countries but remain in the Middle East

• Turkey — 3.5 million Syrian refugees are in Turkey. Ninety percent of

Syrian refugees in Turkey live outside of camps and have limited access
to basic services.

• Lebanon — 1 million Syrian refugees make up about one-fifth of Lebanon’s

population. Many live in primitive conditions in informal tent settlements,
which are not official refugee camps. With few legal income opportunities,
they struggle to afford residency fees, rent, utilities, and food.

• Jordan — 670,000 Syrian refugees are in Jordan. Some 126,000 live in

refugee camps, including Za’atari and Azraq, where aid groups have
converted desert wastes into cities.
• Iraq — 249,000 Syrian refugees are in Iraq. They are
concentrated in the Kurdistan region in the north where more
than a million Iraqis fled to escape ISIL. Most refugees are
integrated into communities but the large number of
newcomers puts a strain on services.

• Egypt — 130,000 Syrian refugees are in Egypt.