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      Rights Group: International Community Not Taking in Syrian Refugees

   by VOA News

   A top human rights group says world leaders are failing to offer
   protection to Syria's most vulnerable refugees, leading to catastrophic
   consequences.

   In findings released Thursday, [1]Amnesty International said 3.8
   million Syrian refugees are being hosted in five main countries:
   Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. The group says only 1.7
   percent of them have been offered sanctuary by the rest of the world
   since Syria's civil war began more than three years ago.

   Amnesty says no Persian Gulf countries, as well as Russia and China,
   have offered to take in any of the Syrian refugees from the five host
   countries.
   An Amnesty International official, Sherif Elsayed-Alim says the minimal
   number of resettlement places for refugees is "truly shocking." He says
   the absence of resettlement pledges from the Gulf countries, home to
   some of the world's wealthiest states and sharing linguistic and
   religious ties with the refugees, is "particularly shameful."

   The group says the lack of international support has left the five host
   countries "seriously struggling to cope" with the refugees. It says
   Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan have imposed severe restrictions on the
   entry of refugees in recent months, leaving many trapped in Syria.

   Amnesty is calling for at least five percent of Syria's refugees to be
   resettled by the end of 2015 and another five percent by the end of
   2016.

   The group's findings came ahead of a U.N. pledging conference in Geneva
   on Dec. 9.

   Earlier this week, the U.N. World Food Program announced that a lack of
   funding from international donors has forced the agency to suspend
   giving crucial food vouchers to 1.7 million of Syria's most destitute
   refugees. The agency said it needs another $64 million to continue
   feeding the refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt through
   the end of the year.
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   [2]http://www.voanews.com/content/rights-group-international-community-
   not-takin-in-syrian-refugees/2547600.html

References

   1. http://www.amnestyusa.org/
   2. http://www.voanews.com/content/rights-group-international-community-not-takin-in-syrian-refugees/2547600.html