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Tuesday 02 Dec 2014 - 13:12 Makkah mean time-10-2-1436  Rome (IINA) – The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) on Monday said it was forced to stop its aid to 1.7 million Syrian refugees due to lack of funding.
In a statement on their website, the WFP said the consequences of the decision will be “devastating” for the refugees and their host countries.
“A suspension of WFP food assistance will endanger the health and safety of these refugees and will potentially cause further tensions, instability and insecurity in the neighboring host countries,” WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin said in the statement.
The decision, which comes at a time when temperatures have begun to drop in the region, will impact refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, and will raise concerns around how refugees will be able to endure the potentially harsh winter.
WFP had warned in September that it might be forced to impose such a suspension if additional support wasn’t received, and said it might have to announce a similar measure in January for people reliant on aid within Syria, where at least 7.6 million people are internally displaced.
"WFP will not be able to continue its life-saving operations inside Syria in February without additional funding," WFP spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs told Reuters on Monday.
The inability to secure the $64 million needed for the program to continue also ends the WFP’s electronic voucher program. The e-vouchers allowed refugee families access to a prepaid credit card that could be used in participating local stores. The program had contributed $800 million to the economies of the host countries, the statement said, adding that if sufficient financial support is secured, the program will resume immediately.
AB/IINA
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