OIC hosts more than 7 million Syrian refugees

Member nations of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) host more than 7 million Syrian refugees who are officially registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, hosts 2.5 million Syrians who are not registered as refugees, according to Hisham Yousif, assistant director general for humanitarian affairs at the OIC, a local publication reported recently.

He said five member countries are registered with the UNHCR. Turkey has 2 million, Jordan has 1.4 million, but with only 600,000 registered as refugees, Lebanon has 1.5 million, and Egypt has 130,000 registered as refugees out of 800,000 living in the country.

Yousif praised Kuwait for hosting meetings to support Syria, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for offering financial, material and medical aid. He made the comments after a meeting of the executive committee of OIC representatives.

The executive committee is made up of the Islamic Summit troika, comprising Egypt, Senegal and Turkey, in addition to the troika of foreign ministers of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan, which includes the OIC secretary-general.

At the end of the meeting, the delegates issued a statement expressing their concern over the political instability and chaos in Syria that had forced many to leave and seek asylum in other countries.