Ireland pledges another €1.65 million to help refugee crisis in Syria

THE IRISH GOVERNMENT HAS committed another €1.65 million in funding to support the thousands of refugees who have fled the crisis in Syria.

The funding is being routed through Irish charities and aid agencies working in the region including Concern, GOAL, and Oxfam. GOAL will take €650,000 of the funding with €500,000 going to Oxfam and the other €500,000 going to Concern.

It brings Ireland’s total support for the crisis to over €10 million with the €9.8 million contributed so far breaking down as follows:

• GOAL – €650,000
• Oxfam – €500,000
• Concern – €500,000
• IFRC – €500,000
• International Committee of the Red Cross – €1,400,000
• UNHCR – €2,200,000
• World Food Programme – €950,000
• The International Rescue Committee – €100,000
• World Health Organisation – €300,000
• UNRWA [UN agency for Palestine refugees] – €700,000
• NICEF [UN Children’s Fund] – €750,000
• OCHA’s Emergency Response Fund – €500,000

The funding was announced by Minister for Trade and Development, Joe Costello, who explained how it will be used: “This funding will enable Concern, Oxfam and Goal to provide clean water, sanitation, food and blankets to those who have been left homeless by the conflict both within Syria and in neighbouring countries.”

Today marks World Refugee Day and it is now being reported that over 1.6 million have been forced to flee Syria into neighbouring countries.

The extent of the crisis is underlined by the fact that 10 per cent of Jordan’s population is now made up of Syrian refugees.

Attempts to resolve the crisis have been hampered by a dispute between Russia and western countries over the future of incumbent president Bashar Assad.

World leaders failed to agree on the convening of a peace conference in Geneva at the G8 earlier this week but did agree that the need for such a summit was urgent.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said he hoped efforts to hold a peace conference will be advanced in the coming weeks, saying: “The efforts to convene the Geneva II conference will hopefully be considerably advanced by this week’s agreement by the G8 in Enniskillen on the urgent need for a political solution.”

Read: One person became a refugee every four seconds last year

Read: G8 calls for urgent peace talks and a transitional government in Syria