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UN says number of Syrian refugees now more than two million

The United Nations says the number of Syrian refugees to have fled their country’s civil war has now topped two million. Another five million people have been displaced within Syria since the war began. The head of the UN’s refugee agency in Syria, Tarik Kurdi, said that donor countries had provided less than a third of the 250 million US dollars (190 million euros) needed. “Thus far, 65,000 people have received assistance in cash in 2013, 65,000 people. And our target is to reach 100,000 families by the end of the year which means approximately 500,000 people,” Kurdi said. The burden for caring for Syrian refugees has fallen on the neighbouring countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq. The UN warns they could be brought to the point of collapse. It says, on average, almost 5,000 people take refuge in Syria’s neighbours every day. Ministers from the four neighbouring countries are due to meet with the UN in Geneva on Wednesday to find ways to raise more international aid.