Brussels, 31/08/2012 (Agence Europe) - Called by France, the meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York on Thursday, which was exclusively dedicated to the humanitarian disaster in Syria and neighbouring countries and boycotted by the Americans, did not bring any breakthrough apart from the announcement made by France that it would increase its bilateral aid by €5 million, and the United Kingdom by £3 million. The EU, for its part, is still ready to step up humanitarian assistance as soon as such assistance gains access to the country.
Laurent Fabius, French Foreign Minister, told the victims of the crisis: “We shall not fail you”. There have already been 1.2 million displaced persons within the country and over 220,000 refugees in neighbouring countries, but no agreement has been found for providing assistance to the buffer zones, such as Turkey, which is submerged by the massive flow of refugees (over 80,000 - 4,000 a day on average). As an alternative solution, France is now banking on the areas that have been “liberated” by the revolt so that humanitarian and logistic support may be organised.
The fiasco of the meeting poured cold water on the hopes of Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, who continues to call for access by humanitarian workers to persons needing urgent assistance in Syria. Her announcement that there will be a significant increase in the EU's humanitarian effort as soon as better humanitarian access has been guaranteed (see EUROPE 10677) is still valid. To date, the EU (Commission and member states) has made €146 million available for helping civilian populations that have fallen victim to the crisis in Syria and refugees in neighbouring countries (Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq). Out of this amount, €69 million have been provided by the Commission (of which €40 million are for humanitarian aid, €23 million from the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument, and €6 million for supporting Iraqi refugees in Syria). The Commission has one humanitarian expert in Damascus, one in Lebanon and a regional office in Jordan. (AN/transl.jl)