A senior United Nations official cautioned on Friday that as many as 1.5 million Syrians could be forced to flee their homes due to escalating violence, following the ousting of the Assad regime by a rebel group.
Samer AbdelJaber, the World Food Programme's Director for Emergency Coordination, Strategic Analysis and Humanitarian Diplomacy, said the ongoing conflict has already displaced 280,000 people since late November and could displace over a million more if the situation continues at its current pace.
"If the situation continues evolving (at the same) ... pace, we're expecting collectively around 1.5 million people that will be displaced and will be requiring our support," AbdelJaber told reporters, according to Reuters.
Prior to the new fighting within the country, aid agencies had stated that they were only able to raise less than one-third of the $4 billion needed to sustain programs this year. Earlier this month, the UN humanitarian office announced it had to slash food rations in Syria by up to 80 percent due to insufficient funds.
"The situation in Syria was not easy before this escalation, so we're looking at a crisis on top of crisis. And that's why we're really emphasizing the urgent need for funding," AbdelJaber added.
The fighting escalated after rebel forces overwhelmed Damascus last Sunday, marking the end of Bashar al-Assad’s government and more than 50 years of his family’s rule. Rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, led by Abu Mohammad al-Jawlani—a former member of the Islamic State and al-Qaeda—seized control of the capital after a week of intense operations across Syria’s major cities.
Several European countries including the UK have announced they will suspend the processing of asylum applications from Syrians following the fall of the Assad regime. According to The Guardian, a Home Office spokesperson in the UK said it had "temporarily paused decisions on Syrian asylum claims whilst we assess the current situation.”
