Covid-19: Syria

Baroness Helic Excerpts

Thursday 29th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I cannot talk about individual projects; I can say that the UK remains one of the largest humanitarian donors to the Syria crisis. As I said, we have committed more than £3.7 billion since 2012. We have supported millions of people, providing food, clean water and healthcare, and our funding will continue to do so. However, in relation to specific programmes, I fear that all I can say for now is that FCDO programme managers are working with suppliers and delivery partners to work out the precise implications for every programme.

[Baroness Helic (Con) [V]]

My Lords, more people are displaced from Syria than from any other country in the world. Syria’s neighbours alone host more than 5 million Syrian refugees. We rely on them to do this to avoid a repeat of the mass movement of Syrian refugees that we saw in 2015 and to prevent even worse humanitarian suffering. Does my noble friend see any risk that cutting Britain’s aid to Syrian refugees this year could seriously affect the ability of Syria’s neighbours to continue bearing the burden of the Syrian refugee crisis, particularly if other countries follow Britain’s example and cut their overseas aid?

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]]

My Lords, it would be a great thing if other donor countries followed our example of how much we have invested in Syria. We are investing enormous sums in an appalling humanitarian crisis. Over half the pre-war population is displaced from their homes and millions of people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. We have spent at least £1.96 billion to support the probably more than 5.5 million refugees in the wider region, addressing immediate humanitarian need, providing quality education to children, creating opportunities and providing shelter. We continue to support the Governments of Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey to cope with a protracted refugee presence in a whole manner of ways.