DAMASCUS, Syria, July 31 (UPI) -- Nearly 5 million people, or about 20 percent of the total Syrian population, have been displaced by conflict since war began, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said Wednesday the civil war in Syria left a scar on "every aspect of life" in the country.


The United Nations estimates more than 100,000 Syrians have died as a result of the war, which began in early 2011. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, chairman of an international commission of inquiry, said Tuesday he was appalled by the violence, but stressed harsh criticism was no longer enough.

The Syrian Arab Red Crescent said it estimates nearly 5 million people are displaced by war in Syria. The CIA World Fact Book estimated the July population in Syria was 22.4 million.

"Untold numbers of people have become displaced, been killed, gone missing, become disabled, detained or separated from family members, to name but a few of the calamities that have afflicted the country," the ICRC said in a Wednesday briefing.

Bashar al-Jaafari, Syrian envoy to the United Nations, said assessments of the ongoing conflict were lopsided in their criticism of the crisis. He was quoted by the official Syrian Arab News Agency as saying Pinheiro was "deliberately blowing things out of proportion."