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WFP scales back aid to Syrian refugees in Turkey due to lack of funds

Xinhua, March 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

The World Food Programme ( WFP) was forced to reduce the number of Syrian refugees it can assist in Turkey due to a shortage of funding, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Friday.

In January, WFP assisted 220,000 refugees in 20 camps throughout the country, Dujarric said at a daily news briefing. " But in February, that number fell to 154,000, after the World Food Programme had to withdraw from nine camps."

Since 2011, WFP has been providing food assistance to the most vulnerable Syrian refugees in Turkey through an innovative electronic voucher (e-food card) system. That system makes it possible for refugees to buy their food in shops like anybody else.

The World Food Programme said that it requires 9 million U.S. dollars each month for its assistance to Syrian refugees in Turkey.

Turkey, together with Syria's other neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, receives a massive influx of Syrian refugees since the beginning of the Syrian crisis in March 2011. Endite