Participants in the recent eighth ministerial conference organized by the European Union in Brussels to support the future of Syria unanimously warned against the consequences of “forgetting Syria” and its millions of internally displaced people and refugees to neighboring countries. Moreover, EU pledged more than two billion euro ($2.17 billion) to support Syrian refugees in the region, and rejected any talk about the possible return of refugees to their homeland, as the conditions for voluntary and safe return are not prepared.
EU foreign policy high representative Josep Borrell stressed that “our commitment cannot end with financial pledges alone, and despite the lack of progress recently, we must redouble our efforts to find a political solution to the conflict, a solution that supports the aspirations of the Syrian people, for a peaceful and democratic future.”
He added that this conference has become, over the years, an “indispensable opportunity” for deepening dialogue between all parties concerned and interested in helping the Syrian people rise from their suffering, stressing that the only way to end this torment is a comprehensive political solution decreed in Resolution 2254 of the UN Security Council.
This year, for the first time since its launching, this annual conference was held shortly after the meeting of the EU Council of Foreign Ministers, where the situation in the Middle East was the main dish, including a day of dialogue between several Syrian civil society organizations, in addition to cultural events that included a Syrian cinema festival.
In a recorded speech, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, said that this conference has become an urgent need, after 13 years of distress for the Syrians: three-quarters of them are in dire need of aid, and over 9 million of them were displaced inside the country, and 6 million took refuge in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey.
Guterres added that 90 percent of Syrian refugees are unable to secure their basic needs, recalling what he witnessed when he was Commissioner for Refugees of the generosity of the Syrian people in hosting refugees and displaced persons from Iraq and Palestine.
The Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister, Ayman Al-Safadi, warned in his speech that his country is unable to continue providing the services it has provided so far to Syrian refugees, due to the lack of the necessary resources for that.
He said that the number of Syrian refugees registered in Jordan raised to 1.3 million, with only 10 percent in camps and the rest spread across the country. Al-Safadi repeated his call for the establishment of a fund that donor countries promised to help Syrians wishing to return, stressing that their number is increasing, and that there are many areas that have become safe inside Syria.
In the speech of the Lebanese delegation, Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib said that Lebanon brings to this year’s conference a comprehensive position expressed by the House of Representatives, stating that the country, with all its political, religious and social problems, has reached the point of no return in the refugee issue, calling for the acceleration of their safe return, and the deportation of those who cannot return for political reasons to third countries, in accordance with the principle of burden-sharing.
He also said that it is no longer possible to continue treating the situation with the same mentality, by financing the presence of refugees where they are, and donor countries must change their way of thinking. In the context, he criticized the UNHCR, saying that its behavior was to procrastinate and buy time, and that it had become part of the problem, not part of the solution.
The dialogue day on the sidelines of the ministerial conference included several round tables on implementing Security Council Resolution 2254, investing in the Syrian health sector, enhancing the sustainability of basic services and sources of livelihood for refugees hosted in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq, justice, peace, and human rights. Syrians need to know the truth, especially about the fate of missing persons and detainees, as it is a basic condition for reconciliation.