A ministerial-level conference is being held in Geneva on Wednesday with the participation of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.
The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) is urging countries worldwide to accept Syrians for resettlement, as well as for humanitarian reasons of family reunification, medical treatment or scholarships to complete their studies.
Since the beginning of the war, some 4.8 million refugees from Syria have fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Egypt. 13.5 million inside Syria are estimated to be in need of humanitarian aid, while about 10% of the population has been killed or injured since the conflict started. An additional half a million people are estimated to have fled to Europe, especially Germany, since early 2015.
“The international context we are in -and nobody is naive about that- we know very well we are dealing with a complex situation, increasing fear in many countries, increasing politicization of refugee, displacement and asylum issues. This is a difficult thing” UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told a news briefing.
“We estimate that 10 percent of Syria's 4.8 million refugees fall into the highly vulnerable category. That means that well over 450,000 places will be needed before the end of 2018” added Adrian Edwards.
Since 2013, mainly western states have offered only 179.150 resettlement places, according to UNHCR figures. Canada has taken in 25.000 Syrians during recent months and UNHCR has asked the United States to consider accepting 32.369 refugees from Syria last month. Lebanon, on the other hand, had received over 1 million Syrians until December 2015.
“Small countries like Portugal are taking in Syrian students to finish their university studies. We think many more countries can be doing that kind of thing” Edwards said.
According to Reuters, the UNHCR is hoping for a “separate commitment” from the European Union, additional to the relocation offered under a controversial agreement reached with Turkey in March.