Number of Syrian refugees to reach 700,000

The number of Syrians that will be refugees by the end of the year will reach 700,000, making one of the biggest number of displaced persons as a result of a conflict in the world.

The UNHCR figure was quoted by Humanitarian Aid commissioner Kristalina Georgieva to EU foreign ministers, putting pressure on them to work harder for a resolution.

The ministers met their Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, to press him to lift his country’s veto at the UN’s Security Council and to stop providing the Syrian regime with weapons.

However Lavrov was adamant that President Bashir al-Assad was there to stay while the EU insists that he must go, and soon.

The ministers increased the sanctions against the country, targeting members of the ruling group especially but trying to ensure that third countries give as little support as possible.

They added Syrian Arab Airways passenger flights to their previous ban on cargo flights, and said that all financial and insurance institutions must not provide any services to arms and other dealers in third countries that may be concluding deals with the Assad regime.

There was also some concern over the situation with Turkey where Syrian bombardment has killed civilians and been reciprocated by Turkish troops. But they are equally concerned about the refugee situation, where a reported 100,000 Syrians have crossed into Turkey.