UNHCR Briefing Notes - 02.10.12 - Registered Syrian refugeesin surrounding states triple in three months / More than 25,000refugees return home from Republic of Congo since May

GENEVA, 2nd October 2012
BRIEFER: Adrian Edwards, UNHCR Spokesman

TOPICS:
1.    Registered Syrian refugees in surrounding states triple in three months
2.    More than 25,000 refugees return home from Republic of Congo since May

This is a summary of what was said by the UNHCR spokesperson at today’s Palais des Nations press briefing in Geneva

1.    Registered Syrian refugees in surrounding states triple in three months

The number of Syrians registered or awaiting registration as refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq has now surpassed 300,000, triple the level of just three months ago. The latest figures show a total regional registered population of more than 311,500 Syrian refugees in the four countries, compared to around 100,000 in June.

The continuing rapid growth in refugee numbers underscores the urgency of last week’s revised Syria Regional Response Plan seeking $487.9 million in support of up to 710,000 Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries by the end of this year. 

The generosity and hospitality shown by these countries as they struggle to cope with growing numbers of refugees make it essential that the international community provide as much support as possible. 

Many refugees and the communities hosting them are already running out of resources.

Compounding the urgency is the upcoming onset of winter temperatures across the region, in less than 10 weeks from now. 

We are in a race against time. 

In Jordan, for example, where thousands are living in tents, the average low temperature between mid-November and mid-March is two degrees Celsius. 

A winterization plan is being developed, but it too requires support and funding.

JORDAN: 

103,488 Syrians in Jordan have registered or are awaiting registration - four times more than in June. 

The new regional response plan estimates some 250,000 Syrian refugees will need assistance in Jordan by the end of the year. 

Some 65 percent of Syrian refugees currently receiving or seeking assistance in Jordan are in urban areas, while the remaining 35 percent are in the new camp at Za'atri and other smaller facilities 

(King Abdullah Park and Cyber City). 

Since it opened just two months ago, Za'atri has received more than 30,000 people.

In many cases, those living on the local economy are finding it increasingly difficult as their resources dwindle. 

Our Jordan office has seen a marked increase in Syrians struggling to live in urban areas approaching UNHCR help desks in Irbid, Ramtha, Mafraq and Zarqa, most of them worried about possible eviction.

The vast majority of new arrivals are poor and in need of some kind of humanitarian assistance.

UNHCR and its partners offer a variety of programmes to assist urban refugees in need, including cash assistance and the provision of a package of household items ranging from kitchen sets and mattresses to sanitation items.

Since March, 

some 55,000 Syrians have received assistance items, while cash grants have gone to more than 2,600 of the most destitute families.

LEBANON: 

The number of registered Syrian refugees and those awaiting registration in Lebanon is now more than 80,800 people.

The Lebanese government estimates that, in addition, tens of thousands of Syrians have entered Lebanon this year and not yet returned. 

Registered or not, they all live on the local economy

-often depending on relatives or their own resources. 

It is expected that an increasing number will be seeking assistance in the coming months as the resources of refugees as well as their host families become seriously stretched.

Thus, the revised Syria response plan estimates a registered Syrian refugee population of 120,000 by the end of 2012.

The scattered nature of the Syrian refugee population in Lebanon is posing challenges in providing assistance in often remote areas. 

Some 56 percent are residing in the north; 41 percent in the Bekaa; and three percent in Beirut and the south. 

Many of the hosting communities are among the most economically depressed in Lebanon. 

As numbers increase and the winter months approach, needs are increasing and becoming more acute.  

UNHCR and partner agencies are rolling out a winterization program aiming to provide refugee families and vulnerable Lebanese ones with fuel for heating, mattresses, blankets and clothes as well as needed refurbishment to accommodations in readiness for the colder months.

TURKEY: 

Based on figures from the Government of Turkey, the number of Syrian refugees registered and assisted by the government in camps was 93,576 as of Oct. 1. 

Several thousand more are known to be residing outside the current 13 camps.

Three more camps are opening. 

Under the revised response plan, Turkey could be hosting up to 280,000 Syrian refugees by the end of this year.

In addition to the influx of Syrians, Turkey has also seen an increase in the number of urban asylum applications over the past 15 months -many of them related to the crisis in Syria. 

The new arrivals consist mostly of Iraqis, Iranians, Afghans and others who have come to Turkey seeking protection.

IRAQ: 

33,704 Syrians have been registered in Iraq, including 4,263 in the past week. 

More than 28,000 are Syrian nationals of Kurdish origin who have arrived in the Kurdistan Region (Dohuk, Erbil and Sulaimaniya).

Further south, at Al-Qaem, Anbar governorate, more than 5,600 Syrian nationals have sought asylum since the Baghdad government opened the country’s borders in late July.

Initially, many of those fleeing into the Kurdish Region were single refugees. 

Recently, however, there has been a growing proportion of families among the new arrivals.

The revised regional response plan estimates that up to 60,000 Syrians may be in need of protection and assistance in Iraq by the end of the year.

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For further information on this topic, please contact:
In Beirut:   Mohammed Abu Asaker on mobile +  971 50 621 3552
In Geneva: Sybella Wilkes on mobile +41 79 557 91 38

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2. More than 25,000 refugees return from Republic of Congo since May

UNHCR has helped more than 25,000 Congolese return to their homes in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from neighbouring Republic of Congo under a voluntary repatriation programme that was launched in May.

The 25,000 mark was passed last Friday (the current total of those helped back by UNHCR is 25,696). 

UNHCR hopes to repatriate a further 24,000 more refugees, mostly from Equateur province, across the Oubangui River to the DRC by the end of this year, plus a further 32,000 next year.

Currently, there are more than 100,000 Congolese refugees still in Republic of Congo. 

They have been living in isolated areas along the river since fleeing ethnic clashes in Equateur province in 2009. 

At the height of the crisis, about 143,000 Congolese fled their villages for safety in neighbouring countries 

-123,000 in Republic of Congo and 20,000 in the Central African Republic- 

when clashes erupted between the Munzaya and Enyele groups over traditional fishing and farming rights.

An additional 100,000 Congolese were displaced inside Equateur province but most returned home when conditions improved. 

A few thousand refugees also returned on their own from the Republic of Congo and from Central African Republic.

UNHCR has picked up the pace of returns since July, adding a second weekly convoy to take people across the river and home. 

Returnees tell UNHCR staff that they believe the security situation has improved while parents say they want to go back to enroll their young children in primary schools.

In addition to an aid package provided to each family on arrival, 

UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations have initiated reintegration activities, 

especially in the Libenge and Kungu territories, 

to help ensure a sustainable return. 

So far, and with a limited budget, UNHCR and its partners have distributed 700 shelter kits for spontaneous returnees and have also built 350 shelters and 12 wells for the most vulnerable households as well as primary schools. 

Awareness campaigns aimed at ensuring peaceful co-existence between the various communities have been undertaken.

Equateur is one of the most remote provinces in the country, lacking basic socio-economic structures and infrastructure. 

UNHCR has appealed for development actors to help strengthen the reintegration activities.

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