US to Help Syrian Refugees in Arab Nations With $25Mln Aid Package

The United States will provide $25 million toward an appeal by the World Bank to finance resettlement of Syrian refugees in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the US Department of State announced in a press release on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The release was issued prior to an announcement to be made later on Friday by Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

"The initiative aims to assist MENA countries affected by the Syrian refugee crisis, conflict and economic instability by providing much needed access to additional financing," the release noted.

About half of Syria’s pre-war population of 22 million has fled their homes to seek asylum in other countries or are internal refugees.

In addition to more than 1 million asylum seekers in Europe, Lebanon is coping with 1 million refugees, while Jordan has accepted more than 638,000 Syrian exiles, the release noted.

With so many people on the move in the Middle East and around the globe, the international community is facing the worst forced displacement crisis since World War II, according to the release.

Syria has been mired in civil war since a 2011 uprising against the government of President Bashar Assad. The conflict was exacerbated by the 2014 emergence of the Daesh terror group.