Syrian refugee population rises above 4 million, U.N. says [Images Inc…]

Syrian refugee population rises above 4 million, U.N. says [Images Inc…]

FastnewsJul 10, 2015

 

More than 4 million Syrians have fled the violence in their homeland to seek refuge in neighboring countries, the United Nations said Thursday.

The grim numbers make Syria’s lengthy civil war the worst crisis that the U.N. refugee agency has had to deal with in nearly 25 years, the organization said.

“This is the biggest refugee population from a single conflict in a generation.

An injured man lying in the back of a vehicle is rushed to a hospital in Daraa, south of Damascus, on March 23, 2011. Violence flared in Daraa after a group of teens and children were arrested for writing political graffiti. Dozens of people were killed when security forces cracked down on demonstrations.

Anti-government protesters demonstrate in Daraa on March 23, 2011. In response to continuing protests, the Syrian government announced several plans to appease citizens.

Syrian children walk over bricks stored for road repairs during a spontaneous protest June 15, 2011, at a refugee camp near the Syrian border in Yayladagi, Turkey.

Jamal al-Wadi of Daraa speaks in Istanbul on September 15, 2011, after an alignment of Syrian opposition leaders announced the creation of a Syrian National Council -- their bid to present a united front against al-Assad's regime and establish a democratic system.

Suicide bombs hit two security service bases in Damascus on December 23, 2011, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/23/world/meast/syria-bombings/index.html" target="_blank">killing at least 44 people</a> and wounding 166.

Supporters of al-Assad celebrate during a referendum vote in Damascus on February 26, 2012. Opposition activists reported <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/26/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html" target="_blank">at least 55 deaths</a> across the country as Syrians headed to the polls. Analysts and protesters widely described the constitutional referendum as a farce. "Essentially, what (al-Assad's) done here is put a piece of paper that he controls to a vote that he controls so that he can try and maintain control," a U.S. State Department spokeswoman said.

Syrian refugees walk across a field in Syria before crossing into Turkey on March 14, 2012.

An injured man gets treated in a Damascus neighborhood on April 3, 2012.

People gather on May 26, 2012, at a mass burial for victims reportedly killed by Syrian forces in Syria's Houla region. U.N. officials confirmed that <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/27/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html" target="_blank">more than 100 Syrian civilians were killed</a>, including nearly 50 children. Syria's government denied its troops were behind the bloodbath.

Rebel fighters with the Free Syrian Army capture a police officer in Aleppo, Syria, who they believed to be pro-regime militiaman on July 31, 2012. Dozens of officers were reportedly killed as rebels seized police stations in the city.

A Free Syrian Army fighter runs for cover as a Syrian Army tank shell hits a building across the street during clashes in the Salaheddine neighborhood of central Aleppo on August 17, 2012.

Family members mourn the deaths of their relatives in front of a field hospital in Aleppo on August 21, 2012.

A Syrian man carrying grocery bags dodges sniper fire in Aleppo as he runs through an alley near a checkpoint manned by the Free Syrian Army on September 14, 2012.

Free Syrian Army fighters are reflected in a mirror they use to see a Syrian Army post only 50 meters away in Aleppo on September 16, 2012.

Smoke rises over the streets after a mortar bomb from Syria landed in the Turkish border village of Akcakale on October 3, 2012. Five people were killed. In response, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/03/world/europe/turkey-syria-tension/index.html" target="_blank">Turkey fired on Syrian targets</a> and its parliament authorized a resolution giving the government permission to deploy soldiers to foreign countries.

A Syrian rebel walks inside a burnt section of the Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo hours before the Syrian army retook control of the complex on October 14, 2012.

Relatives of Syrian detainees who were arrested for participating in anti-government protests wait in front of a police building in Damascus on October 24, 2012. The Syrian government said it released 290 prisoners.

An Israeli tank crew sits on the Golan Heights overlooking the Syrian village of Breqa on November 6, 2012. Israel fired warning shots toward Syria after a mortar shell hit an Israeli military post. It was the first time Israel fired on Syria across the Golan Heights since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Rebels celebrate next to the remains of a Syrian government fighter jet that was shot down at Daret Ezza, on the border of the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo, on November 28, 2012.

Smoke rises in the Hanano and Bustan al-Basha districts in Aleppo as fighting continues through the night on December 1, 2012.

The bodies of three children are laid out for identification by family members at a makeshift hospital in Aleppo on December 2, 2012. The children were allegedly killed in a mortar shell attack that landed close to a bakery in the city.

A father reacts after the deaths of two of his children in Aleppo on January 3, 2013.

A rebel fighter prepares the wires of a car-mounted camera used to spy on Syrian government forces while his comrade smokes a cigarette in Aleppo's Bab al-Nasr district on January 7, 2013.

Syrians look for survivors amid the rubble of a building targeted by a missile in the al-Mashhad neighborhood of Aleppo on January 7, 2013.