Israel Matzav

Any volunteers?

Saying that neighboring countries are overwhelmed with refugees, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on non-neighboring countries to take in Syrian refugees.

"Growing numbers of Syrians are crossing the Mediterranean from Egypt to Italy, citing increasing anxiety over their security as well as incidents of physical assaults, verbal threats, detention and deportation," UNHCR chief spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told a news briefing in Geneva.

Since August alone, 6,233 Syrians and Palestinians who were refugees in Syria have arrived in Italy aboard 63 boats, she said. This was against 350 Syrians who came in all of 2012.

Up to 300 people are missing after a boat carrying as many as 500 Syrians and Palestinians from Syria sank off the coast of Malta on Oct. 11 after departing from Libya, Fleming said.

Survivors reported their vessel had been fired on two hours after it left Libya's shores. Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan denied Libyan forces were involved but promised to investigate.

A boat of 112 passengers, including 40 Syrians, sank the same night off Egypt's coast. The 100 survivors are detained in police stations in the Alexandria region, the UNHCR said.

"Given the ongoing and dramatic needs of Syrian refugees, which are likely to continue and grow in the immediate future, reinforcement of capacity to receive them in North African countries is increasingly urgent," Fleming said. "These countries are experiencing their own internal issues."

I'd be happy to see the Europeans take in Syrian refugees, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for it to happen. And as to the 'Palestinians,' I suspect that someone will wake up and realize they're taken care of by UNRWA and not UNHCR.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Palestinian refugees, Syrian refugees, UNRWA

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:43 AM