Number of Syrian Refugees Accepted for Resettlement to Double

Following a pledging conference in Genera, the U.N. announced Tuesday that the number of Syrian refugees accepted for resettlement in other countries would more than double, the New York Times reports.

Some 28 countries have made commitments to accept 66,254 Syrian refugees, while 11 other countries confirmed they were exploring options to grow existing programs.

The pledges made on Tuesday’s conference were “an excellent interim result,” said António Guterres, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The total number of places offered rose to over 100,000 from only 40,000 this year, but were still far short of the agency’s target for resettlement.The total number of Syrians accepted for resettlement since the conflict began is just 191,000.

Syria’a neighboring countries have played host to 3.2 million people registered as refugees, and hundreds of thousands more who have gone undocumented. Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey are struggling to deal with the additional strain on their hospitals, schools, infrastructure and jobs.

U.N. to Reinstate Food Voucher Program Following Funding Campaign – For Now

The U.N. said on Tuesday that it would reinstate a food voucher program for Syrian refugees after a successful emergency appeal helped secure funding for the next few weeks, Newsweek reports.

In early December, the agency announced cuts to food support to nearly 1.7 million Syrian refugees in neighboring countries due to lack of funding. In response it launched a social media campaign around the hashtag #ADollarAlife that generated $80 million, enabling it to resume aid in mid-December.

“Contributions came from almost 14,000 individuals and private-sector donors in 158 countries, who gave $1.8 million altogether,” Reuters reports. Government contributions made up the rest.

While the contributions will allow the food aid program to resume activity for the next several weeks, the future of the food aid program, which costs $64 million a month, remains volatile, warned the United Nations’ emergency aid coordinator, Valerie Amos.

Without consistent funding, the food agency “will lurch from month to month,” Amos said. She made an appeal to governments to provide $16.4 billion in humanitarian aid in 2015.

Iran, Iraq, Syria Reaffirm Cooperation in Fight Against ISIS

Following a conference in Tehran on violent extremism on Tuesday, the foreign ministers of Iran, Iraq and Syria said they would resume collaborating to battle radical Sunni militants, Reuters reports.

Iran, an ally of the Syrian regime, acknowledged sending military advisers to Iraq to help Syria’s army fight the Islamic State (ISIS).

“Iran has always stood by the Syrian and Iraqi people from the beginning to fight this threat. Our support will always continue,” Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted as saying.

“At the end of the meeting … it was confirmed that communication and coordination would continue, especially in fighting Da’esh and Nusra and other terrorist organizations,” Syrian state TV reported.

Despite its strategic interest in fighting ISIS, Iran has not openly supported the U.S.-led coalition strikes against the group and has expressed skepticism over effectiveness of the campaign.

Recommended Reads:

• BBC: Syria Refugee Recalls ‘Beatings, Whippings, Electric Shocks’
• Al Arabiya: ISIS in Syria Beheads Man for Blasphemy
• Guardian: Cameron Says U.K. and Turkey Working Hand in Glove to Stop ISIS Fighters
• McClatchy: Rebels in Northern Syria Say U.S. Stopped Paying Them
• New Yorker: The Vortex: A Turkish City on the Frontier of Syria’s War