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refugee crisis
Ottawa
The Canadian Press

This article was published more than 7 years ago. Some information may no longer be current.

‘International humanitarian assistance is making a significant difference’ in the Phlippines, International Development Minister Christian Paradis says.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

Canada will be supplying additional humanitarian assistance for victims of the conflict in Syria.

International Development Minister Christian Paradis on Saturday announced that the federal government will match "eligible" Canadian donations up to $100-million under the Syrian Emergency Relief Fund.

That's in addition to $503.5-million in humanitarian assistance funding Canada has already allocated for humanitarian efforts in Syria and neighbouring countries since the beginning of Syria's civil war.

Canadians have flooded the United Nations children's agency with an outpouring of cash in the week since the image of a dead Syrian boy on a Turkish beach shocked the world on Sept. 2.

Four million people have fled Syria since the conflict broke out in 2011 and while their plight has captured headlines over time, it wasn't until that photograph that Canadians coalesced around the need for action.

The government says Canadian aid has already helped provide relief items to more than 3.25 million people in Syria, food assistance to 4.16 million people inside Syria, and clean water to 16.5 million people in Syria.

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