$t least 6yrians flee latest deadly regime offensive
JORDAN - At least 270,000 Syrians -- more than the population of Orlando, Florida -- have fled their homes in southwest Syria since the government launched an offensive against rebels more than two weeks ago, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
Speaking to CNN yesterday, UNHCR spokesman Mohammad Hawari said that the number had “exceeded our expectations of 200,000”.
The refugees are heading to the borders with Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, but neither country is willing to accept them. The agency believes that the number of displaced people is likely to grow as fighting in the region continues.
Around 6.2 million Syrians have been displaced since the conflict began in 2011 -- and a further 6.3 million have fled the country as refugees, according to a recent UNHCR report.
The latest exodus began after the Russian-backed Syrian regime launched an offensive to take Daraa province, located south of the capital Damascus. Syrian forces are wresting control from the Turkishbacked Free Syrian Army, as well as terror groups ISIS and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. As of Friday, nearly 200 people had been killed in the offensive and 120,000 displaced, a number that has now more than doubled.
Jordan and Israel are providing aid to the displaced but are refusing to allow Syrian refugees inside their countries. Jordan is already hosting 1.3 million Syrian refugees but closed its borders in 2016 after an ISIS suicide attack killed six of its border guards. Speaking Friday, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said that the resourcepoor kingdom had “reached its capacity”.
(CNN)