UN: Syria refugee crisis worst since Rwanda

The civil war between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebel fighters has sparked a refugee crisis that the United Nations says is the worst in nearly two decades.

"We have not seen a refugee outflow escalate at such a frightening rate since the Rwandan genocide almost 20 years ago," Antonio Guterres, the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said at a UN Security Council briefing, according to ABC News.

The UN reported that more than 1.7 million Syrians are refugees in neighboring countries, while another 4.5 million are internally displaced. Read more