An international donors conference raised €6.4 billion ($6.7 billion) for Syrian refugees on Tuesday, EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi announced in Brussels, writes news agency MIA.
Donors sent a strong signal that the European Union is “ready to do even more for peace” in Syria and the region, despite war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic, Varhelyi said at the event’s conclusion.
Co-organized by the EU, the conference is the 10th annual donor conference for Syrians since 2013. After conferences in Kuwait and London, Brussels has been hosting the event since 2017. The €6.4 in funding raised breaks down as €4.1 billion for 2022 and €2.3 billion for 2023, Varhelyi said, praising contributions as encouraging, with €4.8 billion coming from EU member states. Germany gave €1.05 billion as “a substantial contribution for humanitarian aid,”
German Minister of State Tobias Lindner said upon arriving at the meeting in Brussels. “Despite a war at our doorstep, the European Union does not forget other conflicts,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement before the conference, referring to the war in Ukraine. Borrell later stressed in a press conference the donations were for humanitarian needs.
The top EU diplomat said the bloc would not finance reconstruction in Syria without “a genuine and comprehensive” transition towards democracy. Emergency aid organization Oxfam welcomed the donations in a statement, but criticized this distinction due to “political considerations,” adding the funds raised are not enough to address Syria’s long term needs after 11 years of conflict.
“There has been too much focus on emergency aid,” Oxfam director for Syria, Moutaz Adham, said in a statement, urging the EU to consider the long-term needs of Syrians for housing, hospitals and schools.
More than 13 million people either fled Syria or were displaced within the country since the beginning of the conflict in 2011, according to UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency. Some 5.6 million Syrians have found refuge in neighbouring and nearby countries, the UNHCR reports, with many living in poverty.
Last year’s conference raised €5.3 billion, of which €3.7 billion came from the European Commission and EU member states.
