UN says 60 million people uprooted due to war and persecution

UN says 60 million people uprooted due to war and persecution
By Euronews
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button
Copy/paste the article video embed link below:Copy to clipboardCopied

Hundreds Syrian refugees have passed through the Turkish border town of Akcakale on their way back to Syria. As many as 20,000 fled the nearby Syrian

ADVERTISEMENT

Hundreds Syrian refugees have passed through the Turkish border town of Akcakale on their way back to Syria.

As many as 20,000 fled the nearby Syrian town of Tal Abyad as Kurdish fighters ousted ISIL militants in fierce fighting.

Those that fled left everything:“If we don’t get home now, how are we supposed to live through the month of Ramadan? We are Muslims and all need to fast. Besides, we left crops, sheep, chickens, and everything else back home,” said an elderly man.

New photos from border near Akcakale #Turkey, where 23,135 refugees from #Syria & Iraq have registered since 3 June pic.twitter.com/5Zs7GVzwrJ

— UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) June 17, 2015

As the refugees returned to face an uncertain future the United Nations refugee agency held a news conference in Istanbul and announced that 60 million people have been uprooted as a result of war and persecution.

The highest number ever recorded.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres painted a bleak picture:
“The world has lost much of its capacity to prevent conflict and to solve them. The result is the dramatic situation we present today. Dramatic not only because there are more and more refugees and displaced persons, but because there are less and less solutions for them.”

According to the UN 7.6 million people have been displaced by the conflict in Syria with 4 million living in neighbouring Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.

There are now more people displaced by conflict worldwide than at any other time on record. http://t.co/JWv909q5fw

— Daniel Trilling (@trillingual) June 18, 2015

Share this articleComments