Brussels, 30/08/2012 (Agence Europe) - As a meeting of the UN Security Council was set to take place in New York on Thursday 30 August on the humanitarian situation in Syria, the general director of the French NGO “France terre d'asile” called on the EU to show solidarity with regard to Syrian refugees currently in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. In an article published in the daily Le Monde, Pierre Henry says that “although saving the populations threatened inside the country remains a complicated operation to carry out, nothing prevents Europe from fulfilling its 'responsibility to protect' populations fleeing the civil war by showing itself to be more generous than it is today. Europe must show proof of the solidarity that is cruelly lacking”. Nearly 16,000 people have exiled themselves in Iraq, nearly 40,000 in Lebanon, 45,000 in Jordan and nearly 78,000 in Turkey, and the NGO director calls on the EU to set in place a programme for the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the EU. The French official points out that, to date and for the first months of 2012, 2,680 requests for asylum have been made within the EU27 by Syrian nationals. “The conflict, one can see, is not causing a massive flow of refugees to EU territory”, Pierre Henry comments, taking the view that the “member states have the means to be more actively involved to protect those populations” despite the economic crisis. He went on to suggest that temporary protection mechanisms should be activated and an action plan for hosting refugees in a precarious situation set up. Member states differ in their approach to Syrian asylum seekers, with some countries granting refugee status to all Syrians that so request, and others granting temporary or alternative protection in accordance with articles contained in the “qualification” directive, a Commission source explains. For now, however, no resettlement programme is under way. (SP/transl.jl)