May 7, 2013

WASHINGTON — Calls to set up a no-fly zone or other refuge for displaced people within Syria face obstacles not only from the Syrian government but potentially from armed opposition groups, says the United Nations’ chief official for humanitarian matters.

Undersecretary-General Valerie Amos told a Washington audience Tuesday [May 7] that the proliferation of opposition militias — who now number about 1,000 — is complicating an already daunting challenge in delivering humanitarian aid to the Syrian people.

According to Amos, 6.8 million of Syria’s 20 million people are in need of assistance including 4 million who are internally displaced and 1.4 million refugees — a figure she said may grow to 3.5 million by the end of the year.

The crisis, she said, is “stretching our capacity to the limit” and there is “a real risk it will spread across the region.”