Syrian Refugee Numbers Now Over 4 Million

According to the UN refugee agency, the number of people fleeing the civil war in Syria has now passed four million, and is being described as the world’s single largest refugee crisis in almost a quarter of a century.

The report by the UNHCR said a surge in new refugee arrivals in Turkey had pushed the total number of Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries to over 4,013,000 people with an additional 7.6 million people displaced inside Syria.

It also says that, if the current rate of refugees continues, the total figure is expected to reach around 4.27 million by the end of the year.

An overwhelming majority of the refugees have fled to neighbouring countries, with Turkey hosting nearly two million alone. Other countries currently overwhelmed by the numbers of Syrian refugees crossing their borders are Iraq, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon.

The report does not include 270,000 asylum applications by Syrians in Europe, and the thousands of others resettled from the region elsewhere.

As the UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said, “This is the biggest refugee population from a single conflict in a generation. It is a population that needs the support of the world but is instead living in dire conditions and sinking deeper into poverty.”

The Syrian conflict has entered in its fifth year with little hope in sight of a possible solution, and the number of people fleeing the war zone is rising. In fact, in the past 10 months alone, more than one million people have been forced to become refugees.

• Pray for Syria, with the ongoing threats and attacks by ISIS, is addition to the civil war still raging there after 5 years. Pray for a desire for peace and reconciliation in the hearts of all factions.
• Pray for the millions of refugees and displaced peoples across Syria and the Middle East. Pray that they will find a place of peace to call home and for many to find hope, healing and life through the witness of Christians around them and the Hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• Pray for Syrian Christians, who have been especially targeted in the violence, that their faith will grow strong and they will not lose hope in their loving Father.

Psalm 22 vs 28: “For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.”

Source: http://www.aljazeera.com