UN urges more support for Turkey on Syrian refugees

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) - The UN on Friday urged the international community to step up support for Turkey in managing and hosting Syrian refugees.

Babar Baloch, a spokesman for the UN Refugee Agency, at a news briefing in Geneva said: “We have been appealing to neighboring countries including Turkey to broaden admission for people who are on the run inside Syria.

“But let us not forget that Turkey hosts some 3.6 million Syrian refugees so the call goes broader to the international community as well that support to Turkey must be sustained and stepped up.”

Turkish officials said earlier on Friday they would no longer try to stop irregular migrants from reaching Europe, as incessant bombings by the Syrian regime and its allies on the Idlib de-escalation zone has resulted in a fresh wave of migrants moving toward Turkey's borders.

Turkey, which hosts more Syrian refugees than any country in the world, says it cannot absorb another refugee wave.

Baloch, however, said they have not received an official notification.