around 5 billion euros promised for Syrian refugees

The European Union denounces a “serious” situation in Syria, where the conditions are far from being met to allow the return of exiles.

A group of international donors, under the aegis of the European Union, pledged on Monday May 27 to pay 5 billion euros for Syrian refugees, while the situation is still being judged “severe” in this country in civil war since 2011. During the annual meeting organized by the EU and chaired by its head of diplomacy, Josep Borrell, the European Union committed to paying 2.12 billion euros in 2024 then in 2025.

“The situation in Syria is more serious today than it was a year ago. In fact, it has never been more serious and the humanitarian needs have never been greater”said Josep Borrell. “Today, 16.7 million Syrians are in need of humanitarian assistance, the highest level since the crisis began more than 13 years ago”, he added. EU humanitarian affairs chief Janez Lenarcic said donors had also pledged an additional 2.5 billion euros in loans, saying the EU and its member states would pay around three-quarters of the total. promised subsidies.

The UN refugee agency recently warned that its operations to support displaced Syrians remained significantly underfunded, to the tune of 15%, for almost six months. Countries in the region hosting millions of Syrian refugees are increasingly pushing for “voluntary” returns to their countries.

But the head of European diplomacy warns against any effort to force people to return to Syria. “Voluntary returns are voluntary returns. Refugees should not be pushed to return to Syria”did he declare. “We consider that there is no safe, voluntary, informed and dignified return of refugees to Syria at the moment”, he added. The war in Syria, sparked in 2011 by the repression of pro-democracy demonstrations, has left more than 500,000 dead and displaced millions.