I thank the committee for the opportunity to address it today on this important issue. The Syrian crisis, now in its ninth year, continues to be one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world. Of a population of 22 million people originally, nearly six million have been forced out of Syria as refugees and over six million have been displaced inside the country. An estimated 500,000 have been killed in the conflict.
Trócaire, working with local organisations, is providing humanitarian assistance in both Lebanon and Syria. It includes the provision of food, shelter, basic household commodities, especially during the recent harsh winter months, and support with counselling and psychosocial assistance to deal with the traumas of conflict. We support people with skills and vocational training so their years in asylum are not completed wasted. We are very grateful for the funding we have received from the Irish Government and EU and the significant contributions we have received from the public in Ireland.
When it comes to the questions of whether Syrian refugees are displaced people and would like to go home, the answer is certainly that they would.
If one is a Syrian living in Lebanon, one most likely lives on less than US $2.90 per day, the minimum required to live in Lebanon. Over half of all Syrians in Lebanon live below this threshold. One probably does not work, and only 43% have informal work. The proportion is only 16% among women. One depends on borrowing money. Nearly nine out of every ten households are heavily in debt. One is at least partially dependent on humanitarian assistance, but that assistance is not dependable. According to the UN, in 2018 only 44% of overall humanitarian funding was received. It is possible that one lives in a building but approximately one third of households, or nearly half if they are female-only households, live in tents or other unsuitable conditions, in a climate where temperatures can rise to the high thirties in summer and drop to sub-zero in the winter. One's children are unlikely to go to school, and more than half of refugee children aged between three and 17 are still out of school in Lebanon. One is unlikely to have a legal permit allowing one to stay in Lebanon, and 73% of Syrians do not have one, so one will spend one's time avoiding roads with checkpoints, work in the black economy, often under exploitative conditions, and hope one's employer does not report one, all in fear of being arrested and taken to the Syrian border.
With all of this, one's focus is on surviving day to day. A person who ever thinks about the future has no idea what it holds for him, her or their family and they are very dependent on others, leaders in the region and in the international community, to determine their future.
Faced with these hardships as refugees, of course these people would consider returning home to Syria. The UN agency for refugees, the UNHCR, states that over 16,000 Syrians returned from Lebanon to Syria in 2018. However, there are still over 1 million Syrians living in Lebanon. They make up one quarter of the country’s population and, of course, the Government of Lebanon is encouraging people to return. There are lots of push factors. A Syrian living in Lebanon and thinking of returning to Syria has to consider the following matters. They are likely to be unemployed and over half the population of Syria are unemployed. Over 50% of the social services infrastructure has either been destroyed or is not operational, so they are likely to be without water, healthcare and other social services. It is likely that a person's home has either been destroyed during the conflict or is occupied, and in a recent survey over 65% of people said this was the case.
What really makes the decision very difficult, if people are thinking about returning, is the fear for their own security. Conscription exists for 18 to 42 year olds and avoidance is punishable by five years' imprisonment or being forcibly conscripted upon return. They face harassment based on sectarian or assumed political views. They face various forms of violence, up to and including rape, at the hands of various militia groups, Government and anti-Government. They risk being disappeared or killed in extrajudicial killings and they are going back into a country where over 500,000 people were killed during the past eight years, the majority by Syrian Government forces. Faced with these considerations, would you go back? There is no longer a push for democratic principles that we all saw on televisions nine years ago, and those aspirations are long forgotten about. People's focus now is simply on survival and security.
Trócaire, along with our local partners, have identified the following priorities. Any discussion on return for Syrian refugees must have the minimum threshold of being voluntary, dignified and safe. The UNHCR has provided clear principles for return and Ireland and the EU should ensure that these are paramount. As we have seen, displacement is a multi-annual situation and, therefore, the Government of Ireland, working with the EU and through its influence in the UN, should ensure there is multi-annual humanitarian funding. The Government of Ireland should encourage a renewed emphasis on the UN-backed peace process, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254 which requires a Syrian-owned peace process. There must be accountability for the war crimes and countless human rights violations committed over the past eight years. Without these, it is very difficult to see the 12 million people displaced by the conflict having sufficient assurances to return home and bring this humanitarian crisis to an end.