As the crisis in Syria rages on, the State Department announced $601 million in new relief funding Thursday morning, bringing the taxpayer funded total to $5.1 billion.
"The Syrian conflict is the largest and most complex humanitarian emergency of our time, with more than two-thirds of Syria’s pre-war population—17 million people—in need of humanitarian assistance. Through this humanitarian funding, the United States continues to provide food, shelter, water, medical care, humanitarian protection, and other urgent relief to millions of people suffering inside Syria and 4.6 million refugees from Syria in the region. It also helps mitigate the impact of the crisis on governments and communities throughout the region that are straining to cope with the mass influx of refugees from Syria," the State Department put out in a release Thursday. "The humanitarian assistance supports the operations of the United Nations, other international organizations, and non-governmental organizations. Through these organizations, the United States is able to provide assistance in all 14 governorates of Syria, helping the people who need it most—and ultimately saving lives and alleviating suffering amid daily threats of violence and deprivation."
This increase in funding comes after the Obama administration announced plans late last year to bring an additional 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States for asylum. Earlier today Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan announced thousands of refugees are waiting at his borders and hundreds of thousands have already poured into Europe without proper vetting.
Around the world, we're seeing the worst refugee crisis' since World War II.