Estonia is helping refugees from Syria in Jordan and Lebanon

06.02.2014

No32

Estonia is supporting the effort to alleviate the situation of refugees from Syria in Jordan and Lebanon with 200 000 Euros. Estonia is helping refugees from Syria in Jordan with 100 000 through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and is supporting the continued education of displaced children from Syria with another 100 000 Euros through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

According to Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, the humanitarian crisis, which has risen from the weapons conflict that erupted in Syria in the spring of 2011, has now grown to become one of the largest and far-reaching regional humanitarian catastrophes. “Syria has become a county completely dependent on humanitarian aid, whose needs continue to increase. Without a political agreement, the humanitarian crisis will not be solved,” Paet said. “Only by continuing talks with all parties involved in the conflict can we move step-by-step towards a common solution and resolution of the tensions caused by the conflict,” he added.

Paet emphasised the need to continue supporting the neighbouring countries taking in refugees from Syria. “The majority of refugees have relocated to Syria’s neighbouring countries and the burden placed on those countries will grow if the crisis continues. This can in turn have undesirable economic and political consequences in the given countries,” he noted.

The foreign minister added that the international community at large must continue to assert pressure on both counter-parties in the conflict to allow the entry of humanitarian aid and humanitarian aid workers in Syria.

9,3 million people have been affected by the crisis within Syria. The number of internally displaced people in Syria has grown to 6,5 million and the number of refugees in neighbouring countries is estimated to be three million. According to official reports, there are already in excess of 590 000 refugees from Syria currently in Jordan and over 900 000 in Lebanon. 5,5 million Syrian children are suffering due to the crisis, of whom 4,3 million are in Syria and 1,2 million abroad.

Over the past couple of years, Estonia has supported the effort to alleviate the humanitarian situation of refugees from Syria with almost a million Euros. Of that, 150 000 Euros has been through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to help refugees from Syria in Jordan and 100 000 Euros through the United Nations Children’s Fund to support the continuing education of displaced children from Syria in Lebanon. Most recently, in December of last year, Estonia supported the World Health Organization’s efforts with 100 000 Euros to combat the spread of polio in Syria and the region as a whole.

 

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