The United Nations asked for $1.5 billion to aid Syrians inside and outside the battered country, predicting the refugee number would top more than 1 million, according to UPI. "Unless these funds come quickly, we will not be able to fully respond to the lifesaving needs of civilians who flee Syria every hour of the day, many in a truly desperate condition," Regional Refugee Coordinator Panos Moumtzis said. Under a worst-case situation, in which the conflict results in a massive exodus of civilians, the number of refugees could rise to 1.85 million, Moumtzis said. The $1.5 billion is the biggest appeal the United Nations has ever launched for such a crisis. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said U.N. agencies needed $1 billion to help refugees pouring out of Syria at a rate of 2,000 to 3,000 people daily. More than 525,000 Syrians have registered or are being assisted as refugees, seven times as many as in May and double the number recorded in early September, the refugee agency said. They include about 160,000 in Lebanon, 150,000 in Jordan, 140,000 in Turkey, more than 65,000 in Iraq and more than 10,000 in Egypt. About half the Syrians huddled in refugee camps are children, UNICEF estimated.
