Over three million refugees from Syrian war - UN

The number of refugees from the Syrian civil war has risen above three million, the United Nations refugee agency said, calling the crisis “the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era.”

More than a million people have fled in the last 12 months alone, the refugee agency said, counting only those who registered as refugees. The total number is believed to be significantly higher. Syria's neighbours estimate that hundreds of thousands more Syrians have sought sanctuary in their countries, causing enormous strain.

Data from the UNHCR shows 1,175,504 refugees are currently in Lebanon, 832,508 in Turkey, 613,252 in Jordan, 215,369 in Iraq, 139,090 in Egypt and 23,367 in North Africa, while 6.5 million others are displaced within Syria itself.

More than 190,000 have been killed in Syria's three-year civil war.

Opposition groups in Syria have been fighting forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad since his government suppressed protests against his rule in March 2011.

The situation has been worsened in recent months by the formation and advance of the Islamic State group, which now controls large areas of Syria and Iraq.