Refugees of the Syrian civil war

Refugees of the Syrian civil war

Total population:	Total of ~300,000 (July 2012) 112,000+ registered by UNHCR (July 2012)[1]
Regions with significant populations:	Jordan - 140,000[2][3] estimated (July 2012); 35,000[2] registered (July 2012) Lebanon - 50,000 estimated; 28,100 registered (July 2012)[1] Turkey - 43,000+ registered (July 2012)[3]  Iraqi Kurdistan - 6,500 registered (July 2012)[1] 8,500 estimated (July 2012)[1] Numbers don't include foreign citizens, who fled Syria
Language:	Arabic, Kurdish
Religion:	Sunni Islam

Refugees of the Syrian civil war or Syrian refugees are Syrian nationals, who fled Syria with the escalation of the Syrian civil war. Correct for April 2012, tens of thousands of Syrian refugees were registered outside Syrian borders,^[4] mostly finding refuge in neighbouring Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Thousands more of Syrian refugees were most probably unrecorded.

The refugee problem has begun unfolding across Syrian borders on April 2011, intensifying with the siege of Talkalakh and the unrest in the Syrian province of Idlib. As a result, thousands of Syrian citizens fled across the border to Lebanon and Syria by summer 2011. By early July 2011, 15,000 Syrian citizens had taken shelter in tent cities, set up in the Yayladağı, Reyhanlı and Altınözü districts of Hatay province, near Turkey’s border with Syria,^[5] with 5,000 of them already returning back to Syria by that time of their own volition.^[5] The number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon had reached some 10,000 by late June. On July 12, Al-Jazeera reported that some Syrian refugees had found a sanctuary in Jordan,^[6] with numbers reaching 1,500 by December.^[7]

In early 2012, the numbers of Syrian refugees swelled to some 20,000 registered by UN in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan, with possibly 10,000 more being unregistered. Following the February fighting in Homs and the escalating assault of Syrian troops on towns and villages near Lebanese border on early March, a large scale refugee influx into Lebanon was reported on March 4, 2012. The exact number of moving Syrian refegees was not clear, but was described around 2,000.^[8] The attack in Idlib resulted in swell of Syrian refugees to Turkey as well, where their numbers reached 14,700 by March 18.^[9]

In April 2012 offensive by the Syrian Army, which preceded the expected cease fire on April 10 by Kofi Annan peace plan, the flow of refugees to Turkey reached its peak, with as many as 2,300 daily on April 4 and 2,800 on April 5, pushing into Turkey's border areas.^[10] The number of Syrian refugees in Turkey reached 23,835 on April 6.^[10] In Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu demanded Assad keep his promise to cease military operations, while demanding action by the international community and the UN, if more refugees come.^[10] On April 6, there were 8,594 Syrian refugees reported to reach Lebanon, with most of them at the Bekaa Valley.^[11] The number of Syrian nationals in Jordan was estimated at near 100,000.^[12][13] The total official UN numbers of Syrian refugees reached 55,000 at the time, while unofficial number stood at as many as 150,000.

Timeline

2011

Spring 2011

Number and location of people fleeing the violence in Syria, 13 June 2012.

By May 3, 2011, the number of Syrian citizens, crossing the Turkish border was estimated at 300.^[14] President of Turkey, Abdullah Gül, said that Turkey is preparing for “a worst case scenario,” in an apparent reference to a possible influx of large numbers of refugees from Syria.^[14] He was referring to the fact that Turkey had already set up a small camp in southern Hatay province for 263 Syrians who fled their country on Friday, April 29.^[14]

By mid May, some 700 of Tel Kalakh residents fled across the border, to the northern Lebanese village of Mkaybleh.^[15] According to Sheikh Abdullah, a prominent religious figure in the village of Wadi Khaled in northern Lebanon, by May 13 the village had received more than 1,350 refugees from Syria over a period of 10 days, most of them women and children.^[16] More were expected to arrive.

On May 14, Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said that the refugee flow into Lebanon has been "very small" - about 1,000 people.^[15] She also said the numbers of Syrians who have crossed the border into Turkey were also small, about 250.^[15]

June 2011

With the siege of Jisr al-Shughour the situation on the Turkish-Syrian border deteriorated, as Jisr al-Shughour, home to 41,000 people, became a largely abandoned town, in expectation of Syrian Army attack.^[17] Initially The Guardian reported that officials in southern Turkey said that about 2,500 Syrians, many from Jisr al-Shughour, had crossed the border.^[17] However, the number of refugees, housed in refugee camps across the Turkish-Syrian border had exceeded 10,000 by mid June.^[18][19][20] The number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon was estimated by human right associations at 8,500 on June 18,^[21] with main concentrations in Akkar and Tripoli areas,^[21] making the total number of Syrian refugees to surpass 20 thousand people.

As Syrian troops massed in front of the Turkish border, the flow rate further increased hundreds of refugees a day on June 23,^[22] reaching a total of 11,700 Syrian citizens, housed in refugee camps across the Turkish border.^[23]

July 2011

According to official numbers by early July, 15,228 Syrians had sought refuge in Turkey, as a result of tension caused by countrywide protests and a crackdown on protests by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s administration.^[5] More than 5,000 of them had returned to Syria of their own volition, thus some 10,227 Syrian refugees had remained in Turkey.^[5]

September 2011

The numbers of registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon reached 2,600 on early September, with thousands more residing in Lebanon illegally.^[24] According to UNHCR, some 120 Syrian refugees crossed into Lebanon on August 29th.^[25] According to Al-Arabiya, some 2,500 Syrians resided in the Wadi Khaled area, down from 5,500 which were there in May.^[26] Most of the Syrian refugees in the area were Arabs and Bedouins.^[26] A humanitarian aid campaign was launched by "Baitulmaal" nicknamed the "Syrian Refugee Relief".^[27]

In September 2011, the estimations for Syrian refugees in Lebanon rose to around 4,000 registered, with possibly as many as 6,000 in total residing there.^[28] In December, the number of registered Syrian refugees had reached almost 5,000.^[29]

Despite the return of many Syrians back to Syria through July and August, in early September Turkey began setting up six refugee camps for over Syrian refugees, who fled from Syria in June - some 6,000 out of initial 15,000 remaining in Turkey.^[30]

November 2011

On November, it was reported that the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey stands at 7,600.^[31]

December 2011

The number of Syrian refugees in Jordan was at 1,500 registered on mid-December 2011, with possibly thousands more being unregistered.^[7]

By the end of 2011, it was reported that thousands of Syrian refugees had found shelter in Libya.^[32] There were no further documentations of those refugees.

2012

January 2012

On January 14, 2012, it was announced by the UNHCR that the number of registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon has reached 5,238.^[33] The registered refugees were almost 1,000 families.^[33] Some 200 Syrians registered within a single week prior to the announcement.^[33] 6,375 registered Syrian refugees were reported on late January, 2012.^[34]

On January 2012, Israeli Chief of Staff announced on preparations of the Israeli Army to absorb Alawite Syrian refugees on the occupied Golan Heights, in case the Syrian government collapses.^[35] The plans were said not to be concrete, but related to a hypothetical situation, if Syrian current rule is overthrown and the Alawites had to flee.

February 2012

On early February 2012, Jordan announced to open a refugee camp on its territory for Syrian refugees fleeing escalating violence in their country.^[36]

The number of Syrian refugees in Turkey was reported at 9,700 in February.^[34] 3,000 registered Syrian refugees were reported on February, 2012.^[34]

March 2012

Following the February fighting in Homs and the escalating assault of Syrian troops on towns and villages near Lebanese border on early March, a large scale refugee influx into Lebanon was reported on March 4, 2012. The exact number of moving Syrian refegees was not clear, but was estimated around 2,000.^[8]

Turkey also reported an increased refugee flow of "hundreds per day" on mid-March.^[37] With the fresh influx, the number of U.N. registered Syrian refugees in Turkey's Hatay Province reached 13,000^[37] to 13,500,^[38] with possibly thousands more residing in other provinces.^[39] Turkish officials near the Syrian border were reportedly expecting tens of thousands, perhaps as many as 50,000 of new arrivals in late March and have begun constructing tent cities in the southern provinces of Hatay, Kilis, Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa.^[38] By March 18, the number of refugees in Turkey was reported at 14,700.^[9]

In Jordan, as many as 80,000 Syrians were reported to arrive, relocating mostly to the area Ramtha and the northern city of Mafraq, according to Jordanian government spokesman Rakan Majali.^[40] Rakan Majali also declared that a 30,000 sq.m. refugee camp in Jordan to host the Syrian refugees was under construction.^[40] The UN refugee agency puts the number of registered Syrian refugees in Jordan at between 5,000 and 8,000, while Jordan has accepted around 5,000 Syrian students in state schools.^[40]

The number of Syrian refugees in Kurdistan Region of Iraq reached around 1,000 by March 24.^[41] Almost 1,000 asylum seekers, including 60 families and Syrian army defectors fled Syria for Iraqi Kurdistan, according to Kurdistan Region's Immigration Officer.^[41]

By March 2012, the number of displaced Syrians was estimated by the U.N. at a total of 230,000, with 30,000 of them residing in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.^[42]

UNHCR published a report that more than 1,000 Syrians found shelter in Libya and more were expected to come by sea to Italy as well.^[43]

April 2012

In April 2012 offensive by the Syrian Army, which preceded the expected cease fire on April 10 by Kofi Annan peace plan, the flow of refugees to Turkey reached its peak, with as many as 2,300 on April 4 and 2,800 on April 5, pushing into Turkey's border areas.^[10] The number of Syrian refugees in Turkey reached 23,835 on April 6,^[10] and abou 25,000 by April 10, when Kofi Annan visited the refugee camps on Turkish territory.^[44] In Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu demanded Assad keep his promise to cease military operations, while demanding action by the international community and the UN, if more refugees come.^[10]

There were 8,594 Syrian refugees reported to reach Lebanon, with most of them at the Bekaa Valley.^[11] The number of Syrian nationals in Jordan was estimated at 90,000^[45]-100,000.^[12] The total official UN numbers of Syrian refugees reached 42,000 at the time,^[4] while unofficial number stood at as many as 130,000. Aljazeera network did put the number of Syrian refugees at 50-60,000.^[46]

On April 10, it was reported that the number of Syrian refugees in four neighboring countries jumped by 40% within several weeks and stands at about 55,000 registered, almost half of whom are under 18 years old, according to U.N. figures. There were also estimated to be at least 20,000 refugees who have not yet registered, as well as 200,000 or more Syrians who were displaced within their own country.^[47]

May 2012

3,171 Syrian nationals of Kurdish origin have registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the Kurdistan Region, according to a UNHCR statement.^[48] An estimated 10 to 15 families and 50 to 65 individuals continued to enter Duhok governorate daily.^[48]

June 2012

By June 1, more than 4,000 Syrian nationals of Kurdish origin have crossed the border into Kurdistan region of Iraq, as violence in Syria shows no signs of abating.^[49]

The great number of Syrian refugees in Jordan, estimated at 120,000 was reported to have caused a water problem in the Kingdom of Jordan, resulting in drainage of water resources in the water poor country.^[50] The majority of Syrian refugees were concentrated in the northern cities of Mafraq, Irbid, Ramtha, Jerash and Ajlun.

In Lebanon, it was reported by the Lebanese media, that the number of Syrian refugees reached 17,000 registred by the UNHCR, while about 26,000 were overall throughout the country.^[51] Most of the refugees were reported to be women and children.^[51]

On June 2, Turkey reported on influx of about 400 additional Syrian refugees, bringing their number in Turkey to 24,500 registered.^[52]

July 2012

Office of Visas and Registration of Armenia reported that 3,248 Syrian citizens, most of them being ethnic Armenians, applied for Armenian citizenship as of 18 July 2012. In addition, 6 Syrian families (14 persons) requested a residency permit.^[53]

According to Lebanese sources, nearly 19,000 Syrians have fled the Syrian capital into Lebanon since July 18 to 20, as violence inside the city continues to grow.^[54]

The United Nations refugee agency has registered roughly 35,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan, but there are reported to be far more Syrian refugees along its borders, upward of 140,000 people.^[2] The total number of registered refugees was reported by UNHCR at 112,000 on July 17, 2012.^[1] In the Kurdistan region more than 6,500 registered and over 1,400 awaiting registration.^[1] The total number of registered Syrians in Lebanon had reached some 28,100 refugees by July 17, with a further 2,000 Syrians receiving assistance while waiting for registration.^[1]

In Turkey, it was reported the number of registered refugees reached more than 43,000 on July 21,^[3] though nearly 1,000 returned back to Syria over poor conditions at the provisional refugee camps.

Reactions

Turkey

Turkey accommodated most of arrived Syrian refugees in tent cities in the Hatay province, constructed since summer 2011.

Jordan

Jordan began construction of a 30,000 sq. m. refugee camp on March 2012. Jordan has agreed to create camps to house the swelling numbers of refugees, including one camp already in the works in northern Jordan that could hold up to 113,000 people.^[2]

During the Syrian uprising, thosands of refugees were allowed to flee into Jordan and seek refuge. However, Syrian Palestinians were treated differently. Jordan forcibly returned some newly arriving Palestinians from Syria and threatened others with deportation. Since April 2012, Jordanian authorities have also arbitrarily detained Palestinians fleeing Syria in a refugee holding center without any options for release - other than to Syria. Jordan was criticized by Human Rights Watch of singling out Palestinian refugees.^[55][56][57]

UN

UNHCR provided mattrasses, kerosene heaters and jerry can to Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Iraq on April 12'.^[58]

The Internation Organization for Migration (IOM)

On June 2012, IOM provided water filters, rechargeable lights, stoves, blankets and pillows in Lebanon and Iraq.^[58]

Switzerland

Switzerland announced its consideration to accept Syrian refugees per U.N. request.^[59]

Iraqi Kurdistan

The KRG announced plans to construct a second refugee camp for Syrian nationals fleeing the violence in their country,^[60] as the first refugee camp named "Qamishli", which was established following the 2004 Al-Qamishli riots, became overcrowded with refugees of the Syrian uprising.

Cyprus

On July 2012, Cyprus announced of its principal willingness to temporary receive as many as 200,000 Syrian refugees, though no specific plans were presented.

Israel

Israelis from humanitarian groups are in Jordan to assist Syrian refugees fleeing their country's uprising. Ayoob Kara, Israel's deputy minister for the developoment of the Negev and Galilee, said Thursday that Israelis are assisting children and infants who have been injured in the Syrian military’s ongoing violent crackdown throughout Syria. ^[61] He said Israeli volunteer groups had been providing humanitarian aid in Turkey and Jordan for the past two months.^[61]

See also

• Refugees of the Libyan civil war
• Sahrawi refugee camps
• Kurdish refugees

External links

• CBS News - Syrian refugees flee to Lebanon, June 25, 2011.[38]
• The TELEGRAPH: Syrian Refugees flood into Lebanon, 13 March 2012.

References