The Arab Democrat The Latest From The Arab World
Related Articles
On Tuesday, an international conference held in Berlin about the Syrian refugee crisis promised to extend long-term financial support to countries struggling to deal with Syrian refugees, which the UN has labeled the world’s “most dramatic humanitarian crisis”.
Almost 40 international bodies and countries adopted a declaration saying that they would “mobilize for years to come” increased developmental support to countries like Jordan and Lebanon which have let in millions of Syrian refugees.
However, no specific figures were mentioned in the conference – German officials have said that it was not the primary aim of the conference to come up with a number. They added that they were looking to raise around $637 million for 2015-2017; the US had announced $10 million additional humanitarian assistance for host nations.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said at the conference that the impact of Syrian refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war was “enormous” on its neighbors.
“Economics, public services, the social fabric of communities and the welfare of families are all affected, not to mention the security impact of the Syrian conflict in the whole region”, Guterres said.
Over three million Syrians have fled their home nation since March 2011, with most of them taking shelter in Iraq, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.
“The host countries need and deserve much stronger financial support to their budgets to allow them to address the structural gaps”, Guterres said.
He added that aid was needed in the areas of infrastructure, education and health care. He also described the situation in Syria as “the most dramatic humanitarian crisis the world has faced in a very long time”, as ministers from Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey and Lebanon outlines their struggle.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier added that his nation has taken in almost 70,000 Syrian refugees since 2011.
According to the UN refugee chief, Germany’s intake hasn’t solved the problem, but asked for other nations to follow Germany’s lead.
“We ask the neighboring countries to keep their borders open but we ask all countries in the world to keep their borders open”, he said.
