Antonio Vitorino, Director-General of International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on Wednesday urged more support for Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and other countries that receive Syrian refugees.
In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Vitorino said “we need more solidarity and responsibility sharing with countries hosting large numbers of refugees and migrants in need of support, which are themselves often developing countries.’’
Vitorino also underlined that IOM, an organisation of United Nations family, would continue to provide assistance to Turkey in its efforts and activities for hosting refugees.
He also called on the European Union to take measures in order to end pushbacks of asylum seekers and violations of human rights against migrants.
Millions of Syrians have fled their homes after the war in Syria began in 2011.
There are 6.6 million Syrian refugees worldwide, of who 5.6 million hosted in neighboring countries.
Turkey hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees with more than 3.6 million.
Other countries in the region hosting the large number of Syrian refugees are Lebanon (855,000), Jordan (666,000), Iraq (247,000), Egypt (132,000) and Germany more than 788,000 Syrians.
(Sputnik/NAN)
