Japan to provide new relief items to Syrian refugees

Japan will provide new relief supplies, worth USD 1.3 million, to Syrian refugees fleeing to Iraq and Turkey, the Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday. Some 800 tents, 10,000 jerry cans, 10,000 blankets, and 10,000 sleeping mats will be used for the relief activities conducted by the International Organization for Migration in Iraq and Turkey, the ministry said in a statement. With a view to serve Syrian refugees during the forthcoming severe winter, the decision was made at the Cabinet meeting earlier in the day, the ministry said, adding that Japan has already pledged and been carrying out grant aid up to about USD 155 million for the humanitarian crisis in Syria. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), up to 2.5 million Syrians have fled their homes since the outbreak of civil war in March 2011, with over 600,000 taking refuge in immediate neighbors Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.