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Thursday, April 3, 2014

Million Syria refugees registered in Lebanon - United Nations(UN) Says


The number of refugees who have fled Syria and registered in Lebanon has surpassed the "devastating milestone" of one million, the UN says.

Lebanon now has "the highest per capita concentration of refugees worldwide", said the head of the UN refugee agency.

"For Lebanon, a small nation beset by internal difficulties, the impact is staggering," he added.

About 9.5 million people, almost half of Syria's population, have fled their homes since the start of the conflict.

More than 2.5 million have fled the country, with large numbers being taken in by Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and others.

However Lebanon is bearing the biggest burden of all - the number of Syrian refugees there now amount to a quarter of the local population

Note

Over the past three years, more than 100,000 Syrians have lost their lives in the escalating conflict between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule


The conflict has its roots in protests that erupted in March 2011 in the southern city of Deraa after the arrest and torture of some teenagers who painted revolutionary slogans on a school wall.

When security forces opened fire on demonstrators killing several , more took to the streets. The unrest triggered nationwide protests demanding President Assad's  resignation.

The government use of military force to crush the dissent merely hardened the protesters' resolve. By July 2011, hundreds of thousands were taking to the streets in towns and cities across the country.

Opposition supporters eventually began to take up arms, first to defend themselves and later to expel security forces from their local areas.

The country descended into civil war as rebel brigades battled government forces for control of cities, towns and the countryside.Fighting reached the capital Damascus and second city of Aleppo in 2012.

In July 2013, the UN said more than 100,000 people had been killed. It has stopped updating the death toll, but activists say it now exceeds 140,000

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