Turkish civil society organizations have agreed to launch an international campaign to set up a humanitarian corridor to deliver aid to Syrians affected by unrest in their country.

Representatives from dozens of non-governmental organizations met on Tuesday and reached a consensus to start the worldwide campaign to establish the humanitarian corridor from March 30.

The activists plan to stage demonstrations in front of the headquarters of international institutions, including the UN, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the EU and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

An international humanitarian aid platform will also be set up to coordinate the relief efforts.

According to the latest UN report, some 219,000 Syrian refugees are sheltering in Jordan, more than 226,000 in Lebanon, 163,000 in Turkey, 77,500 in Iraq and about 14,000 in Egypt.

Xinhua

(China Daily 02/21/2013 page11)