Northwestern Syria faces a “major protection crisis” with more than 3 million people trapped in a war zone, the United Nations warned on Monday.
“There is a major protection crisis in northwest Syria. That is the fundamental issue,” Mark Cutts, the UN regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis, told reporters in Geneva.
“More than 3 million civilians [are] trapped in a war zone in the Idlib area, and the fighting has been forcing them into a smaller and smaller piece of land close to the Turkish border,” he said.
He noted that even as refugees from Idlib flock towards the border, Turkey already hosts more refugees than any other country in the world, 3.6 million.
While Turkey had said it does not want to see more refugees coming in, he added: “Turkey also supports the cross-border humanitarian operation.”
The UN is working very closely with Turkey to ensure that the border remains open.
“This a vital lifeline for the millions of people in northwest Syria,” he said.