MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has urged Turkey to open its border to Syrians fleeing the conflict-torn Aleppo region, media reported Tuesday.
#BREAKING UN. refugee agency calls on Turkey to open border to Syrian refugees fleeing Aleppo in line with international obligation
— CNN Türk ENG (@CNNTURK_ENG) 9 февраля 2016
The 28 EU member states have approved a 3-billion-euro package for Turkey to help it cope with the inflow of Syrian migrants.
According to Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus, almost 15,000 Syrians have been allowed into Turkey in the past few days, while 25,000 people were still waiting at the border.
Syria has been in a state of a civil war since political protests in 2011 escalated into an armed conflict. The internal conflict is responsible for the largest refugee population in the world, with over four million refugees having fled Syria to neighboring Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt, according to UN data.
