Ibrahimi warns of deteriorating situation of civilians in Syria

UN and Arab envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Ibrahimi warned on Tuesday of the deteriorating situation of civilians in Syria because of the ongoing fighting, saying that there are 2 million displaced people in the war-torn country who badly need food, sanctuary and medical aid. At a Euro-Arab meeting in Cairo, Ibahrimi said some 2.5 million people have been affected by the crisis in Syria and the number could rise to 4 million ,according to UN estimates, by the year end. There are 395,000 Syrian refugees in Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and North Africa, he said and their total number could hit 710,000 by the end of this year. Ibarhimi said 67% of Syria’s hospitals have been damaged by the war, 29% have become unusable whereas 2 thousand schools have been destroyed and 2 thousand others are being used as shelter by refugees. The UN ,he added, prepared a plan to collect 488 million dollars for the refugees in neighboring countries but received only 35% of needed funds, a fact that precludes its assistance to refugees.