Syrian refugees face grim future amidst lack of breakthrough of their ordeal

With the Syrian crisis entering its fifth year, millions of internally displaced Syrians and refugees are living in dire conditions and facing a grim future unless more international support is provided to confront this humanitarian catastrophe.
All attempts to solve the bloody crisis have so far failed, and 3.9 million Syrian refugees living in neighboring countries - Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt - are losing hope of an imminent return to their country and also a chance to start new life was fading.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, in a speech before the UN Security Council, said the Syrian refugees are losing their savings, many of them are begging or sending their children to work. Moreover, the Syrian refugees "were exposed to security risks." The international community should do more to end the nightmare troubling the Syrian people, said Guterres, who noted that the humanitarian crisis in Syria was the worst ever and the aid supplies were shrinking.
Guterres said the development assistance to host countries was also declining, noting that Turkey was hosting the largest refugee community and spent more than USD six billion worth of direct aid.
The growing number of Syrian refugees is causing a strain on the UN agencies working in the region, with the refugee agency only getting 54 percent of total funding end of last year.
The UN launched an appeal last December for USD 8.4 billion to provide humanitarian and development assistance to the refugees and host communities in the neighboring countries.
The UN hopes donors would make major contributions when they meet in Kuwait on March 31.
It is not only the refugee crisis the UN is worried about; there are millions of internally displaced people who are also desperate for help.
There are over 12 million people who are in need for help to stay alive, while around eight million have been forced to leave their homes and share over-crowded rooms.
International reports showed that millions of Syrian children suffered from psychological shock and other health problems, and stopped going to schools because they were either destroyed or used as shelter. More than half of hospitals in Syria were demolished.
Syrian children living in neighboring countries are also in bad need for health care and education.
Guterres said a new Syrian generation was in jeopardy because of the conflict.
Kuwait hosted the first and second aid pledging conferences for Syria in 2013 and 2014. The events successfully raised USD 3.9 billion in aid pledges, USD 1.5 billion in the first and USD 2.4 billion in the second.
Kuwait donated a total of USD 800 million in the two conferences, USD 300 million in the first and USD 500 in the second.
Kuwait III is set to host 78 countries and more than 40 international organizations.