The United Nations agency tasked with protecting refugees worries that as many as a million people who fled violence (often propogated by ISIS) in Iraq and Syria may be left "without proper help" in the coming winter, UNHCR said in a statement.

The Geneva-based organization said it had already invested $154 million in "winter preparedness programs" for Syrian and Iraqi refugees and internally displaced but bemoaned a funding shortfall of more than $58 million.

"(This) means that UNHCR is having to make some very tough choices over who to prioritize: Factors we are considering include the elevation of refugee settlements, the composition of the family unit ... family health concerns, new arrivals, available family resources, shelter conditions and other considerations," the agency said. "For those we're unable to prioritize, the conditions could nonetheless be very tough."

More than 13 million individuals have fled conflict zones in Iraq and Syria, Time said, in what the magazine characterized as an "ongoing humanitarian crisis." That number is roughly equivalent to the population of London, Australia's ABC News pointed out.

"The updated tallies include 7.2 million displaced persons within Syria, nearly half of whom have fled to neighboring countries, as well as 1.9 million displaced persons in Iraq," Time continued.

UNHCR's director for the Middle East and North Africa, Amin Awad, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the world was becoming numb to the refugees' needs.

"Now when we talk about a million people displaced over two months, or 500,000 overnight, the world is just not responding," Awad said. Most of the Syrian refugees have headed to Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey, a fact of which he was critical. "Other countries in the world, especially the Europeans and beyond, should open their borders and share the burden," Awad argued.

In Iraq, "approximately 800,000 people are in need of shelter assistance, while 940,000 lack basic winter household items," the organization said. In Syria, meanwhile, UNHCR is "focusing on two main areas - provision of winterized kits containing core relief items, and the winterization of collective and private shelters currently housing thousands of displaced families," its statement continued.