The UN High Commissioner for Refugees warned on Sunday that the number of Syrian refugees, already past the million mark, could double or triple by the end of the year if no solution is found to the conflict.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees warned on Sunday that the number of Syrian refugees, already past the million mark, could double or triple by the end of the year if no solution is found to the conflict.

Antonio Guterres said the UNHCR could only "mitigate" the suffering of the people but the responsibility to find a solution fell on "those that have political responsibilities."

"Now if this escalation goes on and nothing happens to solve the problem we might have in the end of the year a much larger number of refugees: twice or three times the present level," Guterres told reporters in Ankara.

The warning came days after the UN said the number of Syrian refugees had hit one million, two years after the crisis in Syria had started.

A year ago, the UN agency had only registered 33,000 refugees, but the numbers escalated as the war intensified, sending waves of refugees into neighboring countries.

"Everything depends whether we'll have or not a political solution," Guterres said. "But we need to be prepared for a very strong increase of the present numbers."

The commissioner said the average daily arrivals in neighboring countries were on the constant rise as the numbers increased from 3,000 refugees in December to 8,000 in February.
"This shows you the staggering escalation that we are witnessing," he said.