Argentina accepts more Syrian asylum seekers

Argentina has announced willingness to accept more Syrian asylum seekers escaping the violence in the war-torn country.

In a press briefing on Friday, Aníbal Fernández, the chief of the cabinet of ministers of Argentina, hailed his country’s tradition of “facilitating the entry of foreign citizens in tragic situations like war” and highlighted a plan adopted a year ago by the administration of President Cristina Kirchner that makes “the entry of Syrian citizens easier,” English-language newspaper Buenos Aires Herald reported.

Fernández also expressed his great sorrow over the “terrible” death of a three-year-old Syrian boy, identified as Aylan Kurdi.

Kurdi, who was found dead on a beach near Turkish resort of Bodrum on Thursday, was among 13 ill-fated Syrian asylum seekers -- including his mother and his five-year-old brother -- whose boats capsized off the Turkish coast. They were attempting to cross to the Greek island of Kos from the Turkish coast. The images of this horrible incident went viral on the Internet and shocked the world.

Argentina's Labor Minister Carlos Tomada also said that Syrian people who had relatives in Argentina would have an “easier access.”

According to Argentina's office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, less than 100 Syrian asylum seekers have so far entered the South American country.

Meanwhile, the World Food Program (WFP) said that it had to drop one-third of Syrian asylum seekers from its food voucher program in Middle Eastern host countries due to the funding gaps.

“It is nerve-wracking for the refugees and the staff,” said Abeer Etefa, a WFP regional spokeswoman, on Friday, adding that the cash-strapped agency needed $236 million to keep the program.

WFP has reduced the number of voucher recipients in the regional host countries from 2.1 million refugees to some 1.4 million since the beginning of the year. In Jordan alone, which is hosting more than 630,000 Syrians, some 230,000 refugees have stopped receiving food vouchers since September.

Etefa also said that the WFP tries to give priority to the most vulnerable refugees, including single mothers.

The conflict in Syria has reportedly claimed the lives of more than 240,000 people since March 2011.

The United Nations says the militancy has displaced 7.6 million Syrians internally, and compelled some 4.6 million others to take refuge mostly in neighboring countries.

Tens of thousands of asylum seekers from conflict-hit states in the Middle East and Africa have been trying to make their way to Europe in recent months.

Nearly 340,000 asylum seekers reached the European Union’s borders during the first seven months of the year, up from 123,500 during the same period in 2014, according to the bloc's border agency Frontex.

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