Brussels, 05/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - Alarmed by the breadth of the humanitarian crisis in Syria, which is becoming worse by the day, and by its growing impact on the whole region - with more than 9 million Syrian refugees in the neighbouring countries of Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey (for many of them) - MEPs from the European Parliament's development committee called, during the evening of Monday 3 November, for the EU's humanitarian aid budget not to be reduced and for support to the host countries to be continued.
All the participants in this new exchange of views on the humanitarian impact of the Syrian crisis (MEPs, representatives from international organisations, from NGOs and the European Commission) rang the alarm bell at the endless escalation of the conflict and at the pressure these refugees place on the host countries - which have reached breaking point and are at the limit of their capacities. “Without a political solution, there will be no solution in Syria”, said Linda McAvan (S&D, UK), who chairs the Parliament's development committee.
Carsten Hansen, from the Norwegian Refugee Council, said that it was important “at least to support the existing European humanitarian aid and the development of Syria's neighbouring countries”. Gilles Hansoul, from the International Committee of the Red Cross, called on all the parties in the conflict to respect international humanitarian law, facilitating “neutral, independent and impartial humanitarian action”.
“Countries such as Lebanon are welcoming a number of refugees which would apparently be equivalent to 16 million refugees in Germany. In this part of the world, we are much more selfish and much more inclined to protect our own well-being, standard of living and stability”, said Enrique Guerrero Salom (S&D, Portugal). Along the same lines, Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA, Finland) bemoaned the lack of EU generosity towards these refugees. “When you look at how few refugees have been accepted by the European Union it's a matter for shame”, she said. However, in Hautala's opinion, it would be difficult for the countries of southern Europe to welcome more refugees. (AN)