Brussels, 08/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - A delegation of four MEPs will visit Syrian refugees in Jordan on 11-14 February, a press release from the European Parliament's civil liberties committee (LIBE) states. The delegation - to be led by Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar (S&D, Spain) and including Judith Sargentini (Greens/EFA, Netherlands), Hubert Pirker (EPP, Austria) and Marian-Jean Marinescu (EPP, Romania) - want to see what the conditions for Syrian refugees are like and to meet NGOs working with the refugees. The MEPs' objective, the committee continues, is also to assess what kind of aid the EU can bring. In the view of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the month of January saw a clear increase in arrivals to Jordan - there are now nearly 242,000 Syrian refugees there. According to the UNHCR, over 720,000 Syrians are currently registered as refugees or are awaiting registration in neighbouring countries. There are also around 260,000 in Lebanon.
As the LIBE committee notes in its press release, the number of Syrians who have requested asylum in the EU has remained moderate, although it is on the increase. Germany and Sweden are the countries registering the greatest number of requests and granting international protection almost automatically. Although the EU is currently working on a programme of regional protection aiming to resettle Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries in a sustainable manner, it has still not drawn up a resettlement programme for Syrian refugees on its own soil. (SP/transl.fl)