WEB DESK /
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that Turkey should receive more help for the assistance it is providing to refugees fleeing the Syrian war.
“Turkey and the other countries hosting Syrian refugees … have borne a huge amount of the responsibility … and deserve more help from the international community,” said Ban in an interview to Anadolu news agency.
“At this time, we have at least 130 million people who need daily humanitarian assistance, including 60 million refugees and displaced people.
Turkey has been most generous in accommodating more than 3 million Syrian refugees,” he said. “Currently hosting more than 3 million refugees from neighboring countries, Turkey has the experience, knowledge and tradition to respond to humanitarian crisis.
The Secretary-General urged greater solidarity in order to find new ways for admitting more Syrian refugees and focused on contributions displaced persons could provide for a host country.
“Attempts to demonize them are not only offensive; they are factually incorrect. I have been calling on leaders to counter xenophobia and fear mongering with reassurance,” he added.
The refugee crisis is fueled by the five-year-old war that erupted during the Arab Spring. More than a quarter of a million victims have been killed and 10 million others have been displaced in Syria.
Ban condemned the violence and human rights violations in Syria and although a solution to the conflict has been elusive, he remains optimistic that a diplomatic answer can be found through U.N.-lead talks.