UN Warns 16.5 Million in Syria Need Aid

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The United Nations' top humanitarian official in Syria on Tuesday delivered a stark and sobering assessment of the country's catastrophic state, confirming that a staggering 16.5 million people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance amidst a spiraling displacement crisis and a catastrophic funding shortfall.

In a final press conference before concluding his mission, Dr. Adam Abdelmoula, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, painted a grim picture of a nation where the legacies of war are now being dangerously compounded by environmental collapse, political fragmentation, and escalating sectarian violence, leaving millions in a state of profound vulnerability.

Speaking to reporters in Damascus, Dr. Abdelmoula laid out the staggering scale of the crisis, stating that Syria continues to suffer from one of the world's most severe displacement emergencies. "More than 6 million Syrians are still displaced within the country, and there are more than 6 million refugees around the world," he said, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).

In addition to these figures, he noted the immense challenge facing 2.5 million people who have attempted to return to their homes, many of whom have found only destruction. "About 24 percent of the housing in Syria has been damaged or destroyed in previous years," Dr. Abdelmoula explained.

Despite the monumental scale of these needs, the international response has been critically lacking. Dr. Abdelmoula revealed that the humanitarian response plan for Syria for the year 2025, which requires $3.2 billion to address the most urgent needs, has received only 14 percent of its required funding.

"Despite the difficulty of the situation, the funding that the United Nations receives for support in this regard is very scarce," he stated. During his remarks, Dr. Abdelmoula also extended his thanks to the Syrian government for its "close and increasing cooperation," affirming the UN's role in supporting national priorities.

In a notable historical aside, he recalled his first mission to Syria in 2012, a "difficult period" during which he made the decision to "stop all development activities so that the previous regime would not benefit from them and so that they would not be exploited politically," a comment that underscores the complex political landscape in which humanitarian operations have long been forced to navigate.

A Crisis Compounded by Climate and Conflict

Dr. Abdelmoula's alarming figures come as Syria grapples with a multi-faceted catastrophe that extends far beyond the direct consequences of its long and brutal war.

A historic drought, described as the worst in decades, is sweeping across the nation and the broader Eastern Mediterranean, decimating agriculture and intensifying food insecurity for millions. As previously reported by Kurdistan24, the drought has caused rivers like the Orontes to run dry, leaving dead fish on cracked riverbeds, and has crippled the country's ability to feed itself.

Syria's wheat harvest, once sufficient to meet domestic demand, is now expected to bring in just one million tons, forcing the government to import up to 70 percent of its needs in a country where the UN already estimates half the population is food-insecure.

This environmental collapse is a primary driver of the humanitarian need described by the UN, forcing farmers off their land and swelling the ranks of the displaced.

Additionally, in early July, Kurdistan24 reported on the devastating wildfires that swept through Syria’s Latakia province, leaving behind unprecedented destruction. The fires scorched over 100 square kilometers of land and forced more than 5,000 residents to flee their homes. Entire villages were reduced to ash, with survivors lamenting that “nothing is left but ashes.”

The Syrian Civil Defense struggled to contain the blazes, hindered by the dual threats of persistent drought and the presence of landmines in the affected areas. As the crisis deepened, Syrian authorities urgently appealed for European Union assistance to confront the disaster.

Simultaneously, the country is facing a profound political and security crisis, with escalating violence against minority communities fueling organized political movements that challenge the central government's authority.

The narrative of "cooperation" presented in Damascus is starkly contradicted by events on the ground, particularly in the southern province of Sweida.

In a harrowing report from late August, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) announced that the death toll from a recent wave of violence in the province had climbed to nearly 2,000 people.

Most alarmingly, the monitor documented the extrajudicial execution of 765 civilians, mostly from the Druze community, by government forces and their allies. Amnesty International corroborated these findings, citing verified video footage of Syrian military and security personnel executing unarmed Druze civilians.

This state-sponsored violence has acted as a catalyst for political fragmentation. As Kurdistan24 has reported, the persecution has prompted the formation of the "Political Council for Central and Western Syria" by politicians and activists from the Alawite-majority coastal region, who have explicitly called for a federal democracy to end the country's conflicts.

This push for decentralization from minority communities, including the long-standing calls for autonomy from the Kurds in the northeast, stands in direct opposition to the centralist vision of President Ahmed al-Sharaa's government, creating deep political fissures that complicate any national recovery effort.

Enduring Instability and the Legacy of ISIS

The legacy of the war against ISIS also continues to cast a long shadow over the country, contributing to the instability that perpetuates the displacement crisis. In northeastern Syria, the Kurdish-led Internal Security Forces (Asayish) continue to manage the immense security challenge posed by the al-Hol camp, which as of late August still housed approximately 27,000 people, the vast majority of whom are family members of ISIS fighters.

The camp remains a "ticking time bomb," with frequent riots, murders, and organized escape attempts. In early September, the Asayish successfully thwarted a mass escape attempt by 56 ISIS-linked individuals, an incident that underscores the persistent threat posed by extremist remnants and the immense security burden borne by local forces.

This enduring instability ensures that for many of the 6 million internally displaced Syrians, a safe and dignified return home remains a distant prospect.

The confluence of these devastating crises—a legacy of war, a catastrophic drought, escalating sectarian violence, profound political fragmentation, and a critical lack of international funding—creates the "perfect storm" that Dr. Abdelmoula's final report from Damascus has laid bare.

His stark warning that 16.5 million people require aid is not merely a statistic; it is a reflection of a nation teetering on the brink, where the fundamental needs for safety, shelter, food, and water are increasingly unmet for a majority of its population, with no clear path to recovery in sight.