Millions of Syrians go to sleep hungry: aid organizations

A staggering 9.3 million Syrians are now going to sleep hungry and more another two million are at risk of a similar fate, international NGOs said in a joint statement Monday.

Signed by the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, CARE, Mercy Corps, and others, the statement warned that "Syrians who have already endured almost a decade of war and displacement are now facing unprecedented levels of hunger leaving millions of people acutely vulnerable to COVID-19."

"COVID-19 restrictions, the collapse of the Syrian pound, and the displacement of millions of people have led to an unprecedented number of families in Syria who are no longer able to put food on the table," it said.

The statement said the number of Syrians facing food insecurities has risen by 42 percent since last year.

It noted that "unless funding and humanitarian access are increased, many Syrians, including those living as refugees in the region, will be pushed to the brink of starvation."


 
The statement further said that after nine years of war in Syria, the Syrians have been thrown into a spiral of despair and destruction that worsens every year.

"International assistance is needed now more than ever," it said.

Separately, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday that 80 percent of Syrians survive on less than 1.25 U.S. dollars a day, adding that the price of bread doubled in a few weeks.

It further said that 50 percent of Syrians don't have enough food to eat every day.

The Syrian war has been dragging on for over nine years, killing more than 380,000 people and displacing nearly half of the pre-war population of 23 million Syrians either internally or externally.