IOM today welcomed the Government of Kuwait's contribution of US$10 million that will serve as an urgently needed lifeline for millions of Syrians affected by the crisis in Syria.

“We are extremely grateful to the Kuwaiti Government,” says IOM Director General William Lacy Swing. "Their generous contribution will have an enormous impact on the lives of Syrians. With this we can now sustain vital programmes as needs continue to rise sharply.”

Currently, there are 12.2 million Syrians in need of humanitarian assistance inside the country.

In this year alone 540,000 people have been displaced, adding to the 7.6 million already displaced. About 422,000 people - nearly twice the number compared to last year – continue to be under siege.

“This contribution is timely as our funding for affected and displaced populations inside Syria was running out. I hope donors will continue to come forward as our Syria operations continue to be severely under-funded,” said Mohammed Abdiker, IOM’s Director of Operations and Emergencies. “The number of people in need has increased dramatically over the past months and will rise further as long as the conflict continues.”

IOM will use the Kuwaiti funds to provide shelter, relief items, safe water and sanitation, urgent health assistance and livelihood support to people affected by the conflict in Syria. The funds will also support neighboring countries to cope with the continued influx of refugees.

About 4 million Syrians have fled their country, and are now hosted in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.

Since the beginning of the crisis, IOM has assisted over 5.5 million Syrians affected by the crisis through non- food relief items and shelter distribution, health, transportation, psychosocial and livelihood assistance. IOM teams have assisted 4 million people directly from inside Syria and 1.5 million in neighbouring countries.

For further information, please contact IOM Donor Relations Division (DRD) at  mgoracci@iom.int