Over 350,000 families internally displaced in Syria

Syria's Ministry of Social Affairs said that 350,177 internally displaced families are residing in shelters inside the country, local media reported Monday. Citing recent data by the ministry, the report said the number reflects the displaced families registered in local displacement shelters from the country's 14 governorates, but around 5,878,317 internally displaced people are currently living outside of the protection of the local shelters. According to the report, the ministry is working to provide displaced people with basic necessities and is working inside the displacement shelters in cooperation with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. The report added that the ministry is preparing "protection programs" for those groups most affected within the displaced population in cooperation with international humanitarian organizations already operating in Syria. The program would specifically target women who survived violence and the disabled people, the report said. Aside from those who are internally displaced, millions of other Syrians have sought refuge outside their country, mainly in neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. Recent statistics showed that 9.3 million Syrians, half of whom are children, are in need of basic necessities. Around 2.5 million Syrians live in areas cut off by the conflict and around 1.9 million Syrian children are unable to attend school. Syria's civilians have been hard hit by the three-year-old conflict that has already killed more than 100,000 people since opposition protesters first sought the ouster of the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011.