'UNHCR yet to receive funds for Syrians'

Iran Press TV

Sun Feb 17, 2013 10:47PM GMT

The United Nations refugee agency says it has not received the recently-pledged funds for the Syrians displaced during nearly the two year of violence in the Arab country.

Andrew Harper, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)'s representative to Jordan, said on Sunday that the agency is struggling to provide humanitarian assistance to the rising number of Syrians fleeing the foreign-sponsored militancy.

He stated that the $1.5 billion pledged in January at an international donor conference in Kuwait 'has not come through.'

The UN official said lack of funds is making it very hard to provide shelter, food, clothing, and blankets to thousands of Syrians daily crossing into neighboring countries.

On January 11, the UNHCR announced that a total of 612,134 Syrians had been registered or were in the process of being registered as refugees in neighboring countries and North Africa.

The UN agency said nearly 176,600 refugees have been registered in Jordan, and 1,100 Syrians cross the Jordanian border every day.

On February 12, Jordanian security forces fired teargas to disperse Syrian refugees protesting poor living and health conditions at a camp in northern Jordan.

The Jordanian police claimed that seven aid workers were injured when they were attacked by dozens of angry refugees with sticks and stones while distributing bread for breakfast in the Zaatari camp.

The police said that the clashes started after the Syrian refugees, who were frustrated because cold winds had swept away their tents and torrential rains had flooded muddy streets, tried to attack the storehouse of a charity center, which was distributing aid.

Frequent protests over poor living conditions have occurred at the Zaatari camp since it opened in July last year.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of Army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government has said that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and that a very large number of the militants operating in the country are foreign nationals.

Several international human rights organizations have accused foreign-sponsored militants of committing war crimes.

GJH/HN