Syrian Minister Blames Int'l NGOs for Insufficient Refugee Crisis Aid

Syrian State Minister for National Reconciliation Affairs Ali Haidar said that international non-governmental organizations provided only 20 percent of the total costs for Syrian refugees, the rest is provided by the Syrian government despite being at war.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – International non-governmental organizations cover only one-fifth of the costs associated with addressing the Syrian refugee crisis while the Syrian government shoulders the remainder, the Syrian reconciliation minister told Sputnik on Thursday.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has registered over 4 million refugees from Syria in North Africa, the Middle East and Turkey as of Tuesday.

"International NGOs until now provided only 20 percent of the total, the rest is provided by the Syrian government despite being at war," Syrian State Minister for National Reconciliation Affairs Ali Haidar said.

Also Haidar said that Europe must stop complaining about the refugee crisis and instead provide assistance to the countries from which refugees are fleeing.

In recent months, Europe has been grappling with a major influx of asylum seekers fleeing war-torn countries in the Middle East, North and Sub-Saharan Africa.

"Europe needs to stop complaining about the migrant crisis, instead, it needs to help us [Syria in] eradicating roots of the problem by helping refugees in the region," Haidar stated.

The UNHCR registered a $2.8-billion gap, accounting for 63 percent, in its total appeal for contributions to address the Syrian crisis.

Over 200 state and non-governmental partners, including scores of UN agencies, are working with the UNHCR in crisis response efforts.

The four-year Syrian civil war has left 7.6 million people internally displaced and another 4 million people living as refugees outside the country, according to the UN.