Dubai: Humanitarian supplies for up to an 187,500 people affected by the conflict in Syria was loaded onto shipping containers in Dubai on Thursday.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) loaded 43 containers with jerrycans, sleeping mats, kitchen sets, tarpaulins and blankets for 50,000-187,500 displaced people in the violence-hit Arab country.

The first shipment is scheduled for February 25 from Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port to Tartous, Syria — a month-long sea voyage.

The relief supplies — the biggest scheduled shipment so far this year — will be received and distributed within Syria by UNHCR.

The battle for control in Syria, between security forces and anti-government groups, has displaced some 2.4 million Syrians to neighbouring countries.

Around 1.5 million have been displaced within Syria. The Agency’s Dubai hub is its biggest, accounting for half of the total emergency response capacity of UNHCR. The volume of cargo jumped 100 per cent in 2013 from 2012, with Syria accounting for about a third.

Thursday’s supplies were loaded at the International Humanitarian City (IHC) on the outskirts of Dubai. HC does not charge UNHCR for its services.

IHC CEO Shaima Al Zarouni said Dubai’s infrastructure, location and “non-bureaucracy” make it an ideal operations hub. Also, local purchasing of supplies has been increasing for the past three years, with Dh400 million procured in 2013 alone.

Vicente Escribano, UNHCR’s head of supply management and logistic service, said: “We truly appreciate the generous hosting of the Government of Dubai, through the IHC, of UNHCR’s largest stockpile in the world. UAE has set an example of the humanitarian work.”

UNHCR Dubai can serve up to 350,000 people with basic relief items within 72 hours.

The UNHCR stockpile in the UAE was established in late 2006 as part of the IHC, an initiative of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. From Dubai, some 103 outgoing shipments were made last year to more than 36 countries, compared to 22 countries in 2012.

The total volume of goods handled was 2,059 containers. The emergencies in Syria, Philippines and Central African Republic received multiple shipments from Dubai in 2013.