Nearly half of all Syrians have been forced to leave their homes, with the number of refugees who have fled the country swelling past three million, according to a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees report released Friday.

The Syrian crisis "has become the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era, yet the world is failing to meet the needs of refugees and the countries hosting them," said António Guterres, the UNHCR's high commissioner, in a statement.

Between those who have fled the country and those who have been internally displaced, more than half of Syria's people have deserted their homes as warring separatist forces, including those from the Islamic State, battle each other and the government forces of Bashar al-Assad