Syrian refugees, whose numbers are set to pass 3 million in the next few weeks, are almost all in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, with smaller numbers in Iraq and Egypt. But, as Reuters reports, that looks set to change: UNHCR chief spokeswoman Melissa Fleming exclaimed that Europe must open its doors to more Syrian refugees, having welcomed only a "miniscule" number while Syria's neighbors have reached "saturation point."
As Reuters reports [9], in more than 3 years of war, very few Syrians have made it to continental Europe.
"The trend is obvious now, they're moving beyond the neighboring countries. The neighboring countries have reached saturation point. And many Syrians are now seeking refuge in Europe and we're asking Europe to do more."
There have been 123,600 asylum requests, mostly in Sweden and Germany, but that figure includes double counting, since some have asked for asylum in several countries.
"Relative to the 2.9 million refugees in the countries immediately surrounding Syria, these numbers are small, in fact they're miniscule. They represent only 4 percent of Syrian refugees," Fleming told a news briefing in Geneva.
"Just to put this into perspective, Europe has a population of 670 million people. Contrast that to Lebanon, which has a population of 4.4 million people and has received 1.1 million refugees."
Although the European Union (EU) has been a leading donor for the humanitarian aid effort in Syria, some countries on the continent have "terrible" conditions for receiving refugees. Some detain them, and some - Bulgaria, Spain and Greece - have tried to reject them before they land in unseaworthy boats.
The UNHCR calls out Russia specifically...
One country in Europe - Russia - has sent 12 refugees back to Syria, breaking an international law principle that no would-be refugees should be sent back to a place where their life or liberty would be at risk, the report said.
Russia - an ally of President Bashar al-Assad - has not granted refugee status to a single Syrian, although it granted 1,193 temporary asylum requests in 2013, it added.
But she is insistent that Europe open up...
Fleming told Reuters that European countries should admit "everyone who wants to come", which she said was a minority of the overall refugee population, since many wanted to remain closer to home in an Arabic-speaking community.
"We’re asking for other forms of protection which include family reunification, extending student visas, offering scholarships, all kind of different mechanisms that could allow for the admission of more Syrians."
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We have an idea - Europe pays for flights from Syria to South America and then all the refugees can pop across the border into Texas... problem solved (you're welcome).
