GENEVA
The UN's food agency has called for additional funding in aid to feed Syrian people in Turkey amid the continuing refugee crisis.
The call came Friday as Turkey continues to host more than 1.6 million refugees inside its borders as the crisis in Syria enters its fifth year.
WFP spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs told a press conference in Geneva: "The WFP requires $9 million each month for its assistance to Syrian refugees in the country. A critical shortage of funding means WFP is unable to provide assistance at the same levels as before.
"Meanwhile, the Turkish government has stepped in to close the funding gap."
'Top food supplier'
She said the agency was monthly supporting 220,000 refugees in Turkey following a request from the Turkish government and planned to reach 300,000 in camps and towns in Turkey in 2015.
However, she added the WFP had been forced to reduce the number of people assisted from 220,000 to 154,000 after withdrawing from nine camps in February.
The conflict in Syria has claimed nearly 210,000 lives and up to 3.8 million Syrian refugees are registered in neighboring Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, according to the UN.
Turkey has spent more than $5.5 billion in hosting Syrian refugees to date and was ranked as the WFP’s top supplier of food in the world last year.
