UN: Turkey received as many Syrian refugees in three days as Europe did in three years

A spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Refugees at the UN, Melissa Fleming, revealed that “Turkey received 138,000 refugees in three days, which is equivalent to what was received by Europe throughout the past three years,” Anadolu news agency reported.

During a press conference held in the Swiss city of Geneva, Fleming called on the international community to provide more assistance to Turkey, which has so far received a million and a half Syrian refugees, 800,000 of whom are registered with the commission. She said “this morning, huge number of Syrians were fleeing Islamic State terrorist attacks, we saw them in long lines waiting at border crossings in order to enter Turkey.”

According to Anadolu, Fleming pointed out that the commission sent humanitarian aid to Turkey for about 200,000 refugees, explaining that the population in Ain Al-Arab, known as Kobane in Kurdish, is almost non-existent after most people fled their homes.

Another spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the UN, Rupert Colville, added that the Islamic State had “seized control of more than 100 villages in the same area of Ain ​​Al-Arab” and expressed “fear that the entire city might fall, as the Islamic State controls the water resources that feed the city”.

It should be noted that the Islamic State launched a surprise attack on the villages surrounding Ain ​​Al-Arab on 19 September, which means that the organisation is now able to control all the surrounding villages and impose a siege on the city from four sides after the withdrawal and retreat of the Kurdish forces from the area. This threat is what caused the displacement of most of Ain ​​Al-Arab’s population.