BERLIN
Some 40 countries and organizations have promised to increase “medium” and “long-term” support for Syrian refugees.
The pledge was made at a conference on the Syrian refugee situation hosted by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin. It brought together ministers from Syria’s neighbors, including Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, and the permanent members of the UN Security Council; U.S., Russia, China, U.K. and France, and leading donor countries, Canada and Sweden.
A joint statement issued after the conference underlined the huge burden on Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, the countries that host around six million registered and unregistered refugees.
The legally unbinding statement underlined the “need to provide increased funding” for supporting the Syrian refugees and called for “substantially increasing” the resettlement of refugees in Western countries.
However, it did not include any concrete targets.
Host countries have promised to protect the human rights of all Syrian refugees, including the rights to education and health.
The joint statement also addressed concerns of security and stability in the region.
“Donors will support host countries in addressing legitimate security concerns, including through effective border management and internal security measures. Participants will promote a culture of tolerance and will combat all forms of extremism, xenophobia, and radicalism that could threaten peace and stability,” the statement said.
Steinmeier said Germany and its partners would “put words into action.”
“Syrian refugees would not be left alone. We will support those countries who are offering shelter to those who fled from Syria,” he said.
He announced Germany would provide at least €500 million worth of humanitarian aid in the next three years for Syrian refugees.
The German minister underlined the need for a political solution to ultimately solve the refugee crisis.
“We must not give up,” he said and expressed cautious optimism about UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura’s efforts.
“His recent visits in the region may lead to new ideas as to how we can get closer to political solution to Syria,” he said.
Earlier at the conference, Turkey's Deputy Foreign Minister Naci Koru criticized the unfair share of the humanitarian burden resulting from the Syria conflict.
"The cost for Turkey has so far been over $4 billion. The contribution that we have received from the international community, only $250 million, has fallen significantly short of our expectations," Koru said.
“In a spirit of partnership, we are in need equitable and meaningful burden-sharing by the international community," he added.
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