Ban to Tell UN Syria Situation Grave and Deteriorating
Syrian refugee children play with clay after workers end work at Al Zaatri refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, September 2, 2012.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon plans to tell the U.N. General Assembly the humanitarian situation in Syria is grave and deteriorating.
Ban speaks to the Assembly Tuesday, where he is expected to appeal for more global funding for U.N. relief efforts in Syria and neighboring countries housing refugees.
A Ban spokesman says the U.N. chief understands this is a time of austerity in the world, but also a time of great need.
Registered Syrian Refugees by Country
Registered Syrian Refugees by Country
Turkey: 50,227
Jordan: 39,600
Lebanon: 35,686
Iraq: 9,053
Source: UNHCR
The United Nations says 100,000 Syrians fled the country in August, the highest monthly total since the conflict began last year.
U.N. refugee agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming says 235,000 Syrians live in refugee camps in Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Turkey.
But officials say the true number of refugees may be much higher because not everyone has registered with camp authorities.
Also Tuesday, Syrian television reported that President Bashar al-Assad said he supports the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Syria as long as it remains "impartial and independent."
Assad met with ICRC head Peter Maurer in Damascus.
Maurer is on a three-day visit to discuss ways to deliver humanitarian aid to Syrians caught up in the civil war. The Red Cross said earlier Maurer would address the "rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation" and the difficulties which the ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent face in reaching people affected by the country's violence.
The Latest Images From Areas in and Around Syria
1/11This image made from video provided by Shaam News Network (SNN) and accessed by the Associated Press on Tuesday, September 4, 2012 purports to show people walking through rubble after shelling in Idlib, Syria.
Images of the ongoing violence in and around Syria.
2/11Residents inspect the damage after what was said to be an air raid by Syrian government forces near Azaz, September 3, 2012.
Images of the ongoing violence in and around Syria.
3/11A Syrian child stands next to rebel fighters checking a house that was damaged in bombing by government forces in Marea, on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, September 4, 2012.
Images of the ongoing violence in and around Syria.
4/11A Syrian rebel fighter prepares his AK-47 before going on patrol in Marea, on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, September 4, 2012.
Images of the ongoing violence in and around Syria.
5/11A view shows the wreckage after a car bomb exploded in the Jaramana district of southeast Damascus September 3, 2012, in this photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA.
Images of the ongoing violence in and around Syria.
6/11Civilians wait to receive food rations in the Bab Al-Salam refugee camp in Azaz. At the Azaz-Kilis crossing, Syrians described dire conditions for refugees still trapped on the other side of the border.
Images of the ongoing violence in and around Syria.
7/11Syrian Hamzah Abu Bakri, displays portraits of his brothers who were killed last week while standing by their vegetable shop in Aleppo, Syria, September 2, 2012.
Images of the ongoing violence in and around Syria.
8/11Boys play on a Syrian military tank (destroyed during fighting with the rebels), in Azaz, September 2, 2012.
Images of the ongoing violence in and around Syria.
9/11A Syrian refugee hangs clothes to dry at Zaatari Refugee Camp, in Mafraq, Jordan, September 2, 2012.
Images of the ongoing violence in and around Syria.
10/11Syrian barbers who fled their homes shave the heads of other displaced men at the Bab Al-Salameh border crossing, in hopes of entering one of the refugee camps in Turkey.
Images of the ongoing violence in and around Syria.
11/11A civilian pushes a baby stroller containing his belongings as he flees the El Edaa district in Aleppo, September 2, 2012.
Images of the ongoing violence in and around Syria.
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The Red Cross said earlier that Maurer would address the "rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation" and the difficulties which the ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent face in reaching people affected by the country's violence.
On Monday, Syrian activists said a government air strike killed at least 18 people in a residential area in the country's north, while five people died in car bomb blast in a Damascus suburb.
The activists said women and children were among those killed in the air strike in the town of al-Bab. They said other people were feared dead under the rubble of damaged homes.
The car bombing in the Damascus district of Jaramana also wounded at least 27 people.
On the diplomatic front, international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said in an interview with the BBC that he faces a nearly impossible task in trying to resolve Syria's 18-month conflict.
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