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As It Happens

UN food program forced to cut food aid to Syrian refugees

Recently, the World Food Programme made serious cuts to food aid for Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries. And, if funding and donations for the UN agency don't increase, the cuts will only get worse.
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A Syrian refugee girl holds a cart outside tents at a refugee camp in Akkar, northern Lebanon Dec. 9, 2014. (Reuters)

For Syrian refugees living in neighbouring countries, finding enough to eat is getting more and more difficult.

Recently the World Food Programme (WFP) made cuts to its food aid for Syrian refugees in nearby nations. And, if funding and donations to the UN agency don't increase, the cuts will only get worse.

"Most refugees are living on 50 cents a day. That's really drastic, in terms of how they can continue to cope," World Food Programme spokesperson Abeer Etefa tells As It Happens host Carol Off.

A Syrian refugee girl makes tea inside a caravan at the Al Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, Dec. 7, 2014. (Muhammad Hamed/Reuters)

She says the United Nations agency is falling far short of the $352 million US it needs to fund its operations until the end of the year.

So the agency has been forced to halve the amount of support it provides to 1.3 million Syrian refugees.

"This is coming at a very critical time for millions of Syrian refugees," says Etefa. "It pushes them to the edge and when we push people to the edge they take dangerous decisions.

"What I heard from families is, 'We are now forced to return to Syria and we'd rather return home and die there instantly, rather than dying here slowly.'"

Others, if they are lucky, have families that can help them attempt the dangerous journey to Europe.

A Syrian boy walks along tents at Minia refugee camp in Lebanon Sept. 1, 2015. (Omar Ibrahim/Reuters)

Etefa blames the shortfall on "donor fatigue." The war in Syria is now into its fifth year. In the meantime, attention has been drawn to other crises, like the Ebola outbreak and the conflict in Yemen.

She says if donations do not increase by the end of the year, there will be more cuts. And that, she fears, will lead to more drastic measures by the most destitute among the Syrian refugees.

"Fathers are marrying their daughters young. They're pulling their children out of school, so they can work and help support the families," she says.

"Those that are most vulnerable are stranded in the neighbouring countries. If you have a little bit of money, you will go home and return to Syria and face your destiny. And, if you have a little bit more money, then you might take this journey to Europe."

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