On Tuesday 28 January, Representative of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Gonzalo Vargas Llosa called on the European Parliament to prioritise “large-scale investments” to stabilise essential sectors in Syria, in cooperation with regional and international humanitarian aid actors.
He also called for “early recovery initiatives“ which, in addition to providing emergency aid, would aim to tackle the root causes of population displacement and reduce dependency on humanitarian assistance.
“Internal displacement continues to grow, with approximately 627,000 people newly displaced, compounding the needs of more than 7 million internally displaced persons”, said Mr Vargas Llosa from Aleppo, invited to assess the situation on the ground with European Parliament members of the Committee on Development (DEVE).
“Approximately 522,000 internally displaced persons have returned to their areas of origin since the change of regime. However, many of them face inadequate services, limited livelihood, and damaged infrastructure hindering their sustainable reintegration”, he added.
According to the UNHCR representative, the situation remains one of the world’s most acute crises, with almost 17 million people requiring humanitarian assistance in 2024.
EU sanctions & access to aid. Although EU sanctions against Syria include a temporary exemption for humanitarian operations, the relaxation decided on Monday at the EU Council (see EUROPE 13566/4) should “facilitate” the work of the EU’s humanitarian partners, said Maciej Popowski, the European Commission’s director general for European civil protection and humanitarian aid operations (DG ECHO), on Tuesday.
Asked by MEP Leire Pajín (S&D, Spanish) about the logistical and political obstacles hampering access to humanitarian aid, Mr Popowski saw Syria as a perfect example of a country in crisis requiring a ‘Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus’.
This strategy, combining emergency assistance with the implementation of medium and long-term development cooperation, had been discussed earlier in the day in the DEVE Committee with the relevant European commissioners (see EUROPE 13567/20). (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)