UN releases results of first survey on Syrian refugees

An internally displaced girl stands outside tents at a makeshift camp in Latakia province, near the Syrian-Turkish border, Syria December 3, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

GENEVA - Almost a quarter of the Syrian refugees who had arrived in Greece between April and September this year were still searching for a family member missing in Syria, and one in five had been separated from one or more family members in that country, a latest survey conducted by the UN refugee agency UNHCR revealed on Tuesday.

The preliminary questionnaire of the survey were answered by over 1,200 Syrian refugees who had arrived in Greece between April and September, Melissa Fleming, spokesperson of UNHCR, told a press briefing Tuesday here in Geneva.

She added that the sample was the largest set of data collected thus far and offered insights into who those families were and why they were coming to Europe.

According to the result of the survey, between April and September 2015, UNHCR border teams had interviewed 1,245 Syrians who had recently arrived in Greece, of which 86 percent had a high level of education, at secondary or university level.

The majority of 63 percent of them had fled Syria during 2015, and 85 percent had reached Greece on their first attempt.

Over 62 percent of those being interviewed originated from the Damascus and Aleppo areas, and the highest groups were students and working professionals, including teachers, lawyers, doctors, bakers, designers, hairdressers and IT specialists.

Fleming told the press that the UNHCR is still dong another survey and the new one will cover the period from September until now.