GENEVA
The UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) announced Tuesday that the number of Syrian asylum seekers has recently begun to rise at the European Union (EU) border as there is no end in sight to the 2.5 year conflict.
Agency spokesperson Melissa Fleming said in press briefings that Bulgaria informed the agency about having acted to overcome the problems faced by Syrian refugees. Refugee facilities are confronted with shortcomings including bedding and rooms. All refugees have to wait in one center and they sleep together, she said.
Bulgaria's decision came after Syrians staged a hunger strike to protest the 'bad conditions' at camps as well as the long procedures of refugee status determination. Some refugees also complain of 'prison life' at camps with below standard living conditions.
Bulgaria received more than 3,000 asylum applications, 2,000 of them from Syrians. Fleming stated this figure is three times more than Europe's average and Bulgaria has difficulty in coping with the demand.
Melissa Fleming said Syrian refugees in Turkey did not encounter such problems despite Turkey having to accommodate ten times more people than Europe. She also noted Turkish people see refugees as "guests" and refugees have enough protection.
Due to the Syrian civil war, 2 million people have fled to neighboring or foreign countries. The number of Syrians living in Turkey is over 500,000, with more than 200,000 Syrians in 20 shelters in 20 provinces across the country.
Apart from Bulgaria, Italy and Germany have seen an increase in Syrian asylum seekers. The refugee agency said on Friday that the number of Syrians has risen sharply in recent weeks.
"Over the past 40 days, [some] 3,300 Syrians, of whom more than 230 were unaccompanied children, have come ashore – mainly in Sicily. Some 670 of these arrivals were during the past week," UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said. Meanwhile, Germany decided to host 107 Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
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