Summary
15 October 2012
The United Nations refugee agency is preparing to help hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees survive the winter. Officials said they were budgeting $64m for fuel, food, shelter and clothing for refugees in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. The agency also said it hoped to help people who had fled their homes and were still inside Syria – but warned that the violence made reaching them very difficult.
Reporter:
Imogen Foulkes
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Report
More than 340,000 Syrians have already fled their country. But with two to three thousand crossing the borders every day, the UN refugee agency expects that figure to double to 700,000 by the end of this year. Most of those fleeing arrive with nothing more than their clothes, many are young children, and now winter is coming: the hardest season for refugees, said the agency's chief spokeswoman, Melissa Fleming.
"It is awful to be a refugee, it's awful to live in a tent, it's even worse if you have to live in a tent when it's freezing and windy and cold and wet outside, so we want to make sure that at least the situation is liveable for people who have no other choice… survival is their only option, fleeing across borders."
The refugee agency is sending stoves, fuel, blankets and warm clothing to camps in Jordan. In Lebanon, where there are no camps, some cash will be provided to help refugees pay rent. And pre-fabricated shelters are being considered for both Lebanon and Turkey. But the refugee agency says it has huge concerns for the estimated 1.2 million people displaced inside Syria – many without food or shelter. Although aid agencies are managing to reach some in urban areas, the UN admits only a fraction of those in need are getting help.
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Vocabulary
- fled
escaped
- crossing the borders
travelling into a neighbouring country (often on foot)
- spokeswoman
woman who speaks on behalf of an organisation
- stoves
small cookers and heaters
- fuel
material which can be burned to produce heat or power (e.g. gas, coal)
- pre-fabricated
already made
- concerns for
worries about
- displaced
having had to flee their home or country
- urban
city, town
- fraction of
small part of
