DHAKA: Seventeen countries including the United States, France and Australia have agreed to receive quotas of refugees fleeing the bloody conflict in Syria.

The UN refugee agency said on Wednesday, reports daily Hurriyet.

‘So far, UNHCR has 17 countries participating in the Syria resettlement/Humanitarian Admission Programme effort,’ Peter Kessler, regional spokesman for the UN refugee agency UNHCR, told media.

‘They are offering about 10,000 places (in total), with some programmes mainly aimed at the 2014 calendar year,’ he added.

The decision comes amid criticism of some Western nations for failing to share the burden created by the exodus of at least two million people from Syria.

So far, Syria’s neighbours – Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq – have absorbed the majority of the refugees, but the influx has strained resources and caused tensions.

The problem is particularly acute in Lebanon, which currently hosts at least 760,000 registered refugees.

The real number of Syrians in Lebanon, with its own population of four million, is probably closer to one million.

BDST: 2005 HRS, OCT 02, 2013
RoR/GCP