More than 21,000 Syrian babies have been born to refugees since start of conflict More than a million children are among the 2.2 million Syrians who have been forced to flee to neighbouring countries Majority of babies have been born in Lebanon where conditions are bleak They risk coming down with pneumonia and contracting polio By David Williams A baby is being born to a refugee fleeing the civil war in Syria every hour, the United Nations warned today as it launched a £500million appeal to help Syrian children. More than 21,000 Syrian babies have been born as refugees since the crisis began nearly three years ago with many living in appalling conditions amid the freezing temperatures of winter in makeshift camps. The shocking figures were given by the UN's children's organisation Unicef with a warning that more had to be done to help the babies and children of the civil war if a "disaster" is to be avoided. Shocking figures: More than 21,000 babies have been born to Syrian refugees since the civil war began three years ago. A young child is pictured crying at a refugee camp in Arsal in Lebanon Vulnerable: Of the 2.2 million Syrian refugees, more than a million of them are believed to be children. Refugees are pictured at the Quru Gusik camp on the outskirts of Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region It is estimated that more than a million children are among the 2.2 million Syrians who have been forced to flee to neighbouring countries with the most babies being born in Lebanon where conditions are particularly bleak. With snow falling regularly and many of the refugees living in flimsy tented camps, temperatures plunge nightly below freezing causing a rise in cases of pneumonia among children together with respiratory infections. The UN says about 500,000 Syrian children are at risk of contracting polio after missing vaccinations because of the civil war triggering the first polio outbreak in the region for more than a decade. The majority of babies born as refugees do not have their births officially registered meaning they will be more vulnerable to abuse, such as people trafficking and forced child marriage. Only 23 per cent of the 781 babies born in Lebanon to Syrian mothers in October had birth certificates. Risk: Around 500,000 Syrian children face contracting polio after missing vaccinations, pictured being administered at a camp in Raqqa, eastern Syria Syrian refugees children play with snow outside their tent at a refugee camp in the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal Disturbingly, Unicef said the percentage of Caesarean-section deliveries inside Syria has doubled as mothers try to avoid the risk of being unable to reach health centres and hospitals and forced to endure unattended births. They add the same concerns over emergency care are seeing the need for Caesarean deliveries increasing dramatically among women living as refugees outside Syria. Since refugees from Syria began teeming into neighbouring countries, over 2,500 women have given birth to babies in refugee camps in Turkey. Ten babies a day are born to Syrian refugee women in Jordan. Poor winter housing: More than 835,000 refugees live in tented camps, pictured, or unused buildings in Lebanon A Syrian refugee boy fetches water at a refugee camp in the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal after heavy snowfall The turmoil in Syria has torn families apart, with more than 3,700 children in Jordan and Lebanon living without one or both of their parents, or with no adult care-givers at all. By the end of September 2013, UNHCR had registered 2,440 unaccompanied or separated children in Lebanon and 1,320 in Jordan. In some cases the parents have died, been detained, or sent their children into exile alone out of fear for their safety. "Some of them are literally speechless because they have seen horrors that affected them so much... they can't get it out of their mind, and they are highly traumatized," UNHCR spokesperson Roberta Russo said. With no end to the conflict in sight and dwindling international support to help Syria's neighbours cover the costs and burden of providing for influx, many of the refugees now worry about how they are going to survive the winter. "We used to be scared of wolves coming inside the tents at night," said Umm Mohammad, a 45-year-old refugee from the contested Damascus recently, "Now there's so much more to worry about. ... A Syrian refugee boy carries his brother near a butcher's shop at the Zattari Syrian refugee camp in Mafraq city, Jordan Syrian refugees carry aid donated by the local municipality near the ancient Roman city of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon