14/03/2012 17:54
Number of Syrian refugees reaches 30,000
The United Nations estimates at least 30,000 refugees have fled the fighting in Syria since the start of the conflict a year ago, while hundreds of thousands are thought to be displaced within Syria, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday, reports the Reuters.
The number of refugees was up 5,000 from figures given by UNHCR on March 9, though newly appointed regional coordinator Panos Moumtzis said the increase represented more accurate data rather than a sudden flow of refugees across the border.
UNHCR does not have accurate data on the number of internally displaced people in Syria, but Moumtzis said the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Society estimated the number at 200,000, which was the figure being used by U.N. agencies.
"There are some indications it is much larger than that," he told a regular U.N. news briefing.