Brussels, 07/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - By promising an additional €400 million for Syria and the countries taking in refugees (see EUROPE 10861), the European Commission pre-empted the call made on 7 June by the United Nations humanitarian agencies for a significant increase in international aid to respond to the Syrian emergence until December. It is US$5.2 billion (€3.9 million) that the UN is seeking from donors - including US$3.81 billion to help the 3.45 million refugees, and US$1.4 billion to help the 6.8 million Syrians in the country.
The Commission's pledge brings €250 million of humanitarian aid for the people in Syria and its neighbouring countries, and €150 million of development aid - including aid to the host communities in Jordan and Lebanon, and funding for security in the refugee camps. On Thursday, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres welcomed the European announcement - which is one of the most generous to date. “This funding is extremely important and very, very timely.” “Syria is fast becoming one of the most tragic, most dangerous, and largest crises since the end of the Cold War, and it is causing suffering on an enormous scale. The urgency of needs is difficult to overstate”, he said.
According to European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva, “it is vital that donors step up to the plate” and show their generosity like the countries taking in refugees and the EU because “this is a crisis on a scale which we have not seen in many years, evolving rapidly before our eyes in a fragile region. The civil war in Syria has claimed the lives so far of more than 80,000 people. It has created 1.6 million refugees, placing neighbouring states under unbearable pressure. Seven million people are now in need of humanitarian assistance, more than half of them children.”
A coalition of 20 international NGOs operating in six countries directly affected by the Syrian crisis has called on the international community to unite in order to respond to the UN's call before it is too late. The Syrian regional forum of NGOs stresses how important it is to really commit funds not just promises of funds, and it calls on donors to guarantee the impartiality of the funds allocated - on the basis of an independent assessment of the needs. The organisations have been told that Palestinian, Iraqi and Sudanese refugees fleeing Syria are not able to benefit from the aid they need. (AN/transl.fl)