9 numbers that explain how bad it is in Syria right now

GlobalPost

This is the latest photo that has everyone talking: A sea of desperate Palestinian refugees besieging aid workers in the Yarmouk camp in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

It was taken in January but released on Wednesday by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

In it thousands of men, women and children, who have been living under siege in the war-devastated refugee camp for seven months, can be seen waiting for UN workers to distribute much-needed food.

Many of the 18,000 people estimated to be living in the camp are malnourished, traumatized and in desperate need of help, the UNRWA said.

"I am deeply disturbed and shaken by what I observed today," UNRWA Commissioner General Filippo Grandi said after visiting the camp on Monday when humanitarian aid distribution resumed.

UN workers have delivered about 7,000 food parcels and 10,000 polio vaccinations to the stricken residents over recent weeks after being granted access. 

But delivery efforts have been interrupted by fighting.

While the plight of the Palestinian refugees is shocking, it’s just one of the many grim aspects of this bloody conflict.

Here are some numbers that show the full scope of the devastation:

3 years since the conflict began in March 2011.

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9.3 million Syrians are in need of humanitarian assistance.

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140,000 killed so far, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The UN said last month that updating the death toll was becoming near impossible because of the difficulty of verifying sources. Its last count, released in July, stood at 100,000.

(AFP/Getty)

2.5 million registered refugees, according to the UN refugee agency. 

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245,000 Syrians living under siege, according to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

(AFP/Getty)

1,400 civilians evacuated from the Old City of Homs by the UN and Syria's Red Crescent since Feb. 7.

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1.2 million child refugees.

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3 of Syria's six UNESCO World Heritage Sites have been damaged and are being used for military purposes, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova said on Feb. 20. All six sites have been placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

(AFP/Getty)

12 percent of the $4.26 billion in funding sought by the UN refugee agency has been met. 

(AFP/Getty)

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