China donates $1m to UNHCR for Syrian refugees

GENEVA - China has donated $1 million to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) primarily for provision of emergency humanitarian supplies to Syrian refugees in Turkey, the UNHCR announced on Wednesday.

The money will also be used for winterization of the refugee camps, according to the UNHCR.

Carol Batchelor, UNHCR representative in Turkey, said it's critical that the international community supports refugee hosting countries given the current needs and the high numbers of refugees continuing to cross borders every day.

"UNHCR is very grateful to the Government of China for this important and timely humanitarian initiative to help the Syrian refugees," she said.

UNHCR statistics showed that the total number of registered Syrian refugees in neighboring countries or awaiting registration is more than 710,000 and the number of registered refugees in Turkey has exceeded 160,000, who are accommodated in 15 camps in seven provinces.

The revised UNHCR-led Syria Regional Response Plan, launched on December 19, seeks 1 billion U.S. dollars for up to 1 million Syrian refugees in Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey.