VOA慢速英语：美国称四百万移民离开叙利亚

The United Nations reported this month that the numberof refugees fleeing conflict in Syria has reached fourmillion. The UN’s High Commissioner for Refugeessays that makes Syria the world’s biggest refugeecrisis in a generation. Without a settlement to theconflict, it warns, the number of refugees is expected torise to four-point-25 million by the end of the year.

Syrian refugees walk at a refugee camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, Friday, June 19, 2015. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

The UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees reportedthat more than 24,000 Syrians fled to Turkey lastmonth. Already Turkey is home to the largest number ofrefugees of any country in the world. Nearly half of allthe four million Syrians who fled their country now live inTurkey. Most of the rest live in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq orEgypt.

UN spokesman Adrian Edwards told VOA thatconditions for the Syrian refugees in Turkey and the other countries are gettingworse. He says that rising numbers of refugees are falling into poverty. Hesays more of them are really worried about the future.

“We are seeing a growing trend in what we call negative coping - that is, childlabor, begging, child marriages and worse. If you look at the various countriesthese populations are in, 86 percent of the refugees in Jordan living outsidecamps are below the poverty line; 55 percent in Lebanon are living in sub-standard shelter. There is a huge and growing funding crunch.”

Adrian Edwards says the world will need about $5.5 billion in internationalhumanitarian and development aid this year. But only one fourth of thatamount has been received. He says the lack of money is putting pressure on the refugees, and the communities where they live. Mr. Edwards says aidgroups will have to make cuts in refugee programs because the money tosupport them is not available. He warns that could mean serious and long-lasting problems for the refugees.

“Programs, which are incredibly important in the long run, such as educationof children, such as health, such as other things—these go by the way andthese have long-term consequences. When you have millions of childrenunable to go to school, unable to get the proper help they need… the risk isyou run into a lost generation of people.”

Mr. Edwards says many refugees see no possibility of returning to Syriaanytime soon. One result is that many refugees are moving toward Europeand even farther away from their homes. He says desperation is makingmany of the people risk their lives as they cross the Mediterranean Sea.There, they hope to find work and a new life.

I’m Anne Ball.

Lisa Schlein reported and wrote this story for VOA News. Anne Ball adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

generation– n. a group of people born and living at about the same time;usually 20-30 years

crunch– n. a very difficult point or situation

consequence(s) – n. something that happens as a result of an action or setof conditions

desperation – n. a strong feeling of fear, sadness and/or the loss of hope