The civil war in Syria had led to a regional humanitarian disaster, a US aid agency said Monday, with 2.5 million Syrians displaced and thousands of families fleeing "horrific levels" of violence against women and girls, dpa reported. In its report, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said more than 2.5 million Syrians have been uprooted from their homes, including 600,000 who are refugees in over-burdened neighbouring countries. "The Middle East is once again facing a human displacement tragedy," said the new report. "Current assistance levels are drastically insufficient to address existing needs, let alone the barest requirements to respond to a lengthy humanitarian emergency." The United Nations anticipates that the number of refugees could soon swell to more than 1 million if the exodus continues at its current pace of 3,000 refugees a day. Syrians identified rape as the main reason that their families fled. "Many women and girls relayed accounts of being attacked in public or in their homes, primarily by armed men. These rapes, sometimes by multiple perpetrators, often occur in front of family members," the report said. The refugees have provided accounts of killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, disappearances, unrelenting bombings, decimation of medical services, dwindling supplies of food, water and electricity.
