Léim ar aghaidh chuig an bpríomhábhar
Gnáthamharc

Syrian Conflict

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 March 2018

Thursday, 29 March 2018

Ceisteanna (95, 96, 97)

Róisín Shortall

Ceist:

95. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the efforts being made to promote an ending to the ongoing conflict in Syria on a bilateral and multilateral level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14757/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Róisín Shortall

Ceist:

96. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the steps he has taken on a bilateral basis to express the Government's opposition directly to the Russian and Iranian embassies in Dublin to their ongoing involvement in atrocities in Ghouta and elsewhere in Syria. [14758/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Róisín Shortall

Ceist:

97. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the steps that will be taken by the Government to address the refugee crisis in Syria; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14759/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I propose to take Questions Nos. 95, 96 and 97 together.

The situation in Syria continues to be one of utmost concern. The conflict, which is now in its eighth year, has cost over 400,000 lives. Over 13 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria, including close to 3 million people trapped in besieged and hard-to-reach areas. Over 6 million people are displaced internally, and a further 5.5 million have fled to neighbouring countries and the wider region. The recent increase in violence in Syria, in particular the vicious siege of Eastern Ghouta which has cost the lives of hundreds of civilians, underscores the extent to which an end to the violence is urgently needed in order to relieve the suffering of the Syrian people.

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura is leading political negotiations to end the conflict based on the 2012 Geneva Communique and UN Security Council resolution 2254. Ireland and the EU fully support this process. The EU provides direct assistance to the UN-led Geneva peace talks and has launched, in coordination with the UN, an initiative to develop political dialogue with key actors from the region to identify common ground.

Ireland strongly welcomed the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2401 on 24 February. This resolution calls for an immediate ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access. The international community must redouble efforts to press for the immediate and full implementation of the ceasefire, and unimpeded humanitarian access to populations in need.

It is quite clear that Russia’s support for the Assad regime has prolonged the suffering of the Syrian people. Russia has also repeatedly vetoed UN Security Council resolutions on Syria, which has seriously undermined the protection of Syrian civilians.

Ireland’s has communicated its concerns directly to the Russian and Iranian authorities on numerous occasions. In October 2017, I relayed Ireland’s strong views directly to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov. I also called on Russia to ensure civilians are protected, and to exert its influence on other parties to the conflict to do the same. My Department’s officials and I will continue to raise our concerns about the ongoing crisis in Syria with the Russian and Iranian authorities in our interactions with them.

Since 2012, Ireland has contributed over €95 million to the humanitarian response to the Syria crisis, including €25 million in 2017 alone. The EU and its Member States have to date mobilised more than €10.4 billion for humanitarian, stabilisation and resilience assistance inside Syria and in neighbouring countries, making the EU the largest single donor to the effort. The EU will host another donors’ conference for Syria in April of this year at which Ireland will announce its pledge to the humanitarian effort in response to the Syria crisis in 2018.

Ireland and the EU are providing significant assistance to refugees and refugee hosting communities. The EU is supporting the Turkey Refugee Facility in response to the almost 3 million refugees being hosted in that country, and €3 billion has been committed to this by the EU between 2016 and 2019, with Ireland contributing €22.9 million. €15 million of this has already been provided to date.

In addition, Ireland also supporting refugee hosting communities in Lebanon and Jordan. Ireland has already contributed €9.67 million in direct humanitarian assistance to Lebanon channelled through UN and NGO partners, and €5.89 million to Jordan through the Jordan Humanitarian Fund.

Under the terms of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP), administered by the Department of Justice, Ireland has also committed to accept up to 4,000 refugees from the region. To date, almost 2,000 people have already arrived.

Barr
Roinn