By Richard Waddington GENEVA, April 18 (Reuters) - A United Nations' conference agreed to step up help on Wednesday for 4 million Iraqi refugees, most of whom have fled their homes to escape violence over the past four years. Up to half of the refugees are being sheltered by neighbours Syria and Jordan, which say they are struggling to shoulder the burden, while nearly 2 million are displaced across Iraq. "There was a commitment to ... financial burden sharing and also for increasing resettlement opportunities for the most vulnerable," said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres, who called the meeting. Specific assistance, both to host countries and refugees themselves, would be worked out over the coming months, he said. "This was not a pledging conference, but there was really a very clear commitment of support," Guterres told reporters at the end of the two-day gathering attended by some 60 countries. More than 3,000 U.S. forces and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Sectarian violence between majority Shi'ites and long dominant Sunnis erupted last year after the bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra, driving many people to uproot themselves. An estimated 40,000 to 50,000 Iraqis now flee their homes each month to escape deep insecurity, poor basic services, a loss of jobs and an uncertain future, according to the UNHCR. Syria hosts some 1.2 million Iraqis, a number equal to 12 percent of its own population, and says it needs $256 million to maintain aid, health care and education over the next two years. Jordan says the 750,000 Iraqi refugees inside its borders cost it $1 billion a year, stretching the resources of a country of just 5.6 million. Guterres welcomed a pledge by Iraq of $25 million, some of which will go to health and education in neighbouring countries, and a promise to resolve problems over identity documents which have prevented some would-be refugees from leaving the country. While recognising the difficulties faced by Jordan and Syria, human rights groups expressed concern the countries were making it harder for fleeing Iraqis to enter. They say there are also cases of refugees being forcibly returned in violation of international humanitarian law. But Guterres said both states had made a commitment at the conference not to turn away refugees:"We all rejected the idea that people should be forced back against their will," he said. He added that, for the first time since an August 2003 bomb attack on U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, the UNHCR was planning to send a permanent international representative back to the Iraqi capital to improve coordination with the government.
