The United Nations refugee agency stated that 13.6 million people have been left displaced by fighting in Iraq and Syria, and called for greater international action as winter approaches.
Amin Awad, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees's director for the Middle East and North Africa, said,
"Now when we talk about a million people displaced over two months, or 500,000 overnight, the world is just not responding."
Reuters reported, Awad going on to call for greater international action, stating,
"Other countries in the world, especially the Europeans and beyond, should open their borders and share the burden."
The UNHCR says it is currently needs an extra $58.5 million for vital supplies such as clothing and plastic sheets, in order to help the displaced. Countries such as China and Russia, both UN Security Council members, are bottom of the list of donors said Awad.
"Politically they cannot really be indifferent, therefore humanitarian is an imperative and it has to be put first and foremost if there is no (political) settlement ... They need to contribute one way or the other, like the others do," he said.