( CNN ) -- The number of people who have fled Syria and registered as refugees amid the country 's civil war was to surpass 3 million Friday , and a further 6.5 million are believed to be displaced within the war-torn nation , the U.N. refugee agency said . That means almost half of all Syrians have been forced to leave their homes amid the roughly three-year conflict , and one in eight has fled across the border , the agency said . In terms of scope and budget , the U.N. 's effort to help the Syrian refugees is the largest in the agency 's 64-year history , spokesman Adrian Edwards said . `` 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 , '' Antonio Guterres , the U.N. high commissioner for refugees , said in a news release Friday . The data come a week after the U.N. said it had documented the killings of 191,369 men , women and children in Syria from March 2011 , when an uprising began , to the end of April this year . The uprising began with mostly peaceful protests against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Daraa province . Syria responded with a ferocious crackdown against demonstrators and has consistently said it is battling armed terrorist groups as it targeted anti-government protesters . The war , pitting an Alawite Muslim-dominated regime against a largely Sunni Muslim insurgency , has torn the country apart . Numerous factions , some of them Islamist , oppose the government , and one of them -- ISIS , or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria -- has captured large swaths of northern and eastern Syria for what it says is its new Islamic caliphate . Refugees `` are arriving in a shocking state , exhausted , scared and with their savings depleted , '' the U.N. 's refugee agency said . `` Most have been on the run for a year or more , fleeing from village to village before taking the final decision to leave . '' Most of the refugees are in countries neighboring Syria , including Lebanon ( 1.14 million ) , Jordan ( 608,000 ) and Turkey ( 815,000 ) . Governments estimate that hundreds of thousands more are in their countries but unregistered , putting a strain on their economies , the U.N. said . Donors have given more than $ 4.1 billion to help , but more than $ 2 billion more is needed by the end of 2014 , including to help more than 2.4 million people prepare for the winter , the U.N. said . More than 80 % of the refugees are struggling to make a living in communities outside of camps , and more than a third are living in substandard shelters , the U.N. said . `` The response to the Syrian crisis has been generous , but the bitter truth is that it falls far short of what 's needed , '' Guterres said . In far southwestern Syria , near the border crossing with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights , militants detained 44 U.N. peacekeepers from Fiji for a second straight day on Friday , the United Nations said . These peacekeepers `` are safe and in good health , '' the United Nations said Friday , citing `` credible sources '' since its officials had not yet talked directly with those being held . The United Nations said militants detained the peacekeepers on Thursday , a day after taking the crossing from the Syrian regime . Those holding the peacekeepers are members of the al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front , one of the groups fighting the al-Assad government , an Israeli military official told CNN on condition of anonymity . In addition , 72 U.N. peacekeepers from the Philippines were `` restricted to their positions '' Thursday and Friday near Syrian villages in the area , the organization said without elaborating . The United Nations has said it is talking with a variety of groups to try to secure the detained peacekeepers ' release . The world body revised the number of detained and restricted peacekeepers Friday from its earlier count of 43 and 81 , respectively . The new count , it said , came after a check of the peacekeepers ' leave records . The Fijian peacekeepers were detained Thursday morning near the Syrian town of Quneitra , the location of the border crossing that rebels had captured , according to the United Nations . Al-Nusra Front fighters and other Syrian rebels seized control of the Syrian side of the Quneitra crossing Wednesday , a capture that represents a new dynamic in a war long feared not only for its deadly effects inside Syria but for threatening to widen into a destabilizing regional conflict . During the fighting Wednesday between Syrian forces and rebels , three errant mortar rounds and some small-arms fire crossed into Israeli-controlled territory , Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said . An Israeli military officer was moderately injured , the military said on Twitter , and Israeli forces responded by striking two Syrian military positions . U.N. peacekeepers have been in the Golan Heights area since 1974 , charged with maintaining a ceasefire between Syrian and Israeli forces since a 1973 war . Israel seized control of the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six-Day War and fought off an attempt by Syria in 1973 to retake the rocky plateau . In 1981 , Israel annexed the Golan Heights . It is considered to be occupied territory by the international community . CNN Exclusive : A 13-year-old witness to ISIS 's beheadings . What can U.S. do against ISIS in Syria ? CNN 's Richard Roth contributed to this report .
NEW : U.N. : 44 peacekeepers seized near Golan Heights `` are safe and in good health '' U.N. : 3 million have left Syria during civil war ; 6.5 million others are internally displaced . Almost half of all Syrians forced to leave their homes , agency says . More than 80 % of refugees are struggling to make a living , U.N. says .