BEIRUT (Reuters) - Countries where Syrian refugees seek asylum should end harsh policies on registration, deportation and education that violate fundamental rights, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday as donors met in London.
These refugees should not be sent back to their war-torn country, refugee registration requirements should be made less restrictive and access to education should be made easier for Syrian children, HRW said in a report.
"This conference needs to set a new agenda on Syrian refugees, making respecting their fundamental rights the top priority," Bill Frelick, HRW refugee program director, said of the one-day donors conference in London.
"Host countries in which refugees make up as much as a quarter of the population need vastly more donor assistance, but that money won't help Syrians who are being pushed back or driven to destitution by harsh policies."
The Syrian civil war has killed an estimated 250,000 people and driven millions from their homes, with 6 million Syrians displaced within the country and more than 4 million others having left for Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and beyond.
"Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey have all restricted entry to refugees from Syria in 2015 and pushed back asylum seekers or forcibly returned refugees in violation of their international obligations," the human rights group said.
In January, Turkey introduced visa requirements for Syrians arriving by air and sea, forcing hundreds of Syrians to return to Damascus.
Slow registration and screening systems have also caused large numbers of Syrians to become stranded at the Jordanian border in recent months in difficult conditions.
Some 700,000 Syrian children in refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries are out of school, according to a report by the Malala Fund founded by Pakistani education campaigner and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai.
HRW urges donors, including those in the United States, European Union (EU) and Gulf states, to share responsibility for hosting Syrian refugees with Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon.
U.N. agencies are appealing for close to $8 billion this year to cope with the humanitarian disaster caused by the Syrian civil war. Germany has already pledged $2.3 billion by 2018, Britain $1.75 billion by 2020 and Norway $1.17 billion by 2020.
U.N.-mediated proximity talks in Geneva on ending Syria's five-year civil war were suspended on Wednesday after just a few days amid acrimony between government and opposition negotiators. They are due to resume on Feb. 25 [L8N15I3K3]