Tens of thousands of refugees from Syria continue to flee unrest by traveling to Europe and neighboring countries.
But many do not seek refuge in Russia, despite longtime political and economic relations between the two countries.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, there were 238,836 refugees and asylum seekers in Russia as of January. Only 2,340 were from Syria. And that number has dropped to about 1,600.
Turkey has taken in over 2 million Syrians. Germany is expected to have as many as 1.5 million refugees by the end of this year. Most of those refugees are from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Bayisa Wak-Woya is the UNHCR representative for Russia. He said, “Unlike in the West, where people have a tradition of dealing with asylum-seekers and refugees for the last six, seven decades, here it’s a fairly new phenomenon.” And many in Russia view refugees as foreigners and migrants.
