One million Iraqi and Syrian refugees may face winter without UN aid
- 9 years ago
As airstrikes pound Islamic State targets in the Syrian town of Kobani... and as bullets fly in the latest battle for control, attention is turning to the coming winter.
At the United Nations Refugee Agency in Geneva, officials are getting desperate for aid.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR) SPOKESWOMAN, MELISSA FLEMING, SAYING:
"We are very concerned by an over $58 million funding shortfall that could leave as many as one million people without proper help. This is partly due to this sharp increase of internal displacement that we have witnessed in Iraq."
Winter has already started in the northern and mountainous parts of Iraq and Syria, and the U.N. says it has already invested $154 million in winter aid.
But that likely won't be enough.
The agency says if the situation worsens, it will have to prioritize its aid according to altitude criteria and vulnerability.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) UNHCR DIRECTOR FO
At the United Nations Refugee Agency in Geneva, officials are getting desperate for aid.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR) SPOKESWOMAN, MELISSA FLEMING, SAYING:
"We are very concerned by an over $58 million funding shortfall that could leave as many as one million people without proper help. This is partly due to this sharp increase of internal displacement that we have witnessed in Iraq."
Winter has already started in the northern and mountainous parts of Iraq and Syria, and the U.N. says it has already invested $154 million in winter aid.
But that likely won't be enough.
The agency says if the situation worsens, it will have to prioritize its aid according to altitude criteria and vulnerability.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) UNHCR DIRECTOR FO