Internally displaced girls from Deraa province look out from a hole near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Quneitra, Syria July 11, 2018. (Xinhua/REUTERS)
UNITED NATIONS, July 31 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations said on Tuesday that it is "deeply concerned" over the 1.2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Syria during the first half of the year and their impact on civilian hosts.
"The magnitude of ongoing displacement places significant strain on host communities, some which are overstretched to support the large numbers of people arriving," Eri Kaneko, associate spokeswoman for the Secretary-General, told reporters at a daily briefing.
"The United Nations remains deeply concerned over the reported ongoing large-scale displacement across parts of Syria and its impact on the civilian population," she said.
Internally displaced people from Deraa province arrive near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Quneitra, Syria June 29, 2018. (Xinhua/REUTERS)
In the first half of 2018, nearly 1.2 million people were reportedly internally displaced, an average of over 6,500 people per day or close to 200,000 per month.
In addition, 6.3 million Syrians have fled their homeland into neighboring countries during more than seven years of war, according to figures of the UN Refugee Agency.
"The largest movement of internally displaced people occurred in Idlib in the first quarter of the year as the Syrian government offensive displaced nearly 400,000 people, and more recently in Daraa, where military operations displaced over 300,000 people," said Kaneko.
The United Nations continues to respond to those in need, particularly IDPs, she said. In June, the United Nations provided food aid to over 400,000 people in northwest Syria, many of them IDPs, and to nearly 100,000 people in the south via cross-border operations.
