For the first time since the Syrian conflict began in 2011, the number of people displaced by the country's bloody civil war has soared beyond 4 million, according to new numbers released by the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR on Thursday.
Syria is now the conflict the single largest refugee crisis worldwide in the last 25 years.
"This is the biggest refugee population from a single conflict in a generation. It is a population that needs the support of the world but is instead living in dire conditions and sinking deeper into poverty," said UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres, in a statement released on Thursday.
The conflict shows no sign of ending, and UNHCR predicts the number of refugees will reach close to 4.27 million by the end of 2015, based on the current rate of growth.
Breaking: 4 million #Syrian refugees have fled their country. New statistics http://t.co/HMd9XeXELW— UNHCRNews (@RefugeesMedia) July 9, 2015
The more than 4 million refugees do not include the additional 7.6 million people internally displaced inside Syria, forced from their homes due to the conflict.
Surrounding countries are bearing the brunt of the displacement, with more than 1.8 million Syrian refugees living in Turkey and more than 1.1 million in nearby Lebanon.
Another 629,128 are living in Jordan; 249,726 in Iraq; 132,375 in Egypt; and 24,055 elsewhere in North Africa. Not included in the 4 million figure are more than 270,000 asylum applications by Syrians in Europe, and thousands of others resettled from the
region elsewhere in the world.
The number of Syrians making their way to Europe in search of stability also continues to grow, though the majority of the displaced still live in countries bordering Syria. Only around 6% of Syrians who have fled the conflict have sought refugee status in Europe.
"Worsening conditions are driving growing numbers towards Europe and further afield, but the overwhelming majority remain in the region," Guterres added. "We cannot afford to let them and the communities hosting them slide further into desperation."
Conflict in northern Syria, particularly in the Tel Abyad region, saw more than 24,000 people flee across the Turkish border during the month of June alone.
Turkey is now home to 45% of all Syrian refugees who have fled the country.
"Smiles of hope in @ZaatariCamp.They're future of #Syria, we need to help them thrive not just survive" #ChildrensDay pic.twitter.com/ZtU9iVLbGk— UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) June 1, 2015
Those who do manage to escape the insecurity of Syria face a news set of struggles as refugees. With limited funding to cover the ongoing cost of providing aid for the huge population, Syrian refugees have limited access to food, healthcare and education.
For 2015 as a whole, UNHCR appealed for $5.5 billion in funding to provide aid for the refugees but as of June, only a quarter of the funding had been received.
According to UNHCR, 86% of refugees living outside of camps in Jordan are struggling to make ends meet, living below the poverty line of $3.20 per day. For many, the hope of returning home in the midst of a conflict now dragging into its fifth year is bleak.