Foreign Affairs Committee to discuss humanitarian work in Syria with Médecins Sans Frontieres

Committee Chairman, Pat Breen TD said: “The conflict in Syria, which has so far cost more than 40,000 lives, has intensified over the past number of weeks and expanded to cover all parts of the country. There is in fact no prospect of any side backing down soon and fighting and violence are likely to escalate further and the potential for regional contagion remains high.

“Recent reports indicate that the humanitarian situation isn’t showing any real signs of improvement, both in and outside Syria. There are now close to two million Syrian people internally displaced, while hundreds of thousands more have become refugees.

“Ireland is making a substantial contribution to humanitarian relief efforts in Syria and neighbouring host countries, with a total of €2.45 million in aid pledged to date, largely channelled through UNHCR, ICRC and WHO.

“Médecins Sans Frontières has four surgical teams working in the conflict zone in the northwest of Syria. At our meeting tomorrow with representatives from Médicins Sans Frontieres, we will be able to get an up to date assessment of the nature of the humanitarian crisis in Syria. We will be particularly in interested in hearing from Dr Paul McMaster to get an eye-witness account of the humanitarian situation. He is just back from Syria where he treated the wounded in an operating theatre set up in a cave and then a farm. The majority of patients he helped to treat were civilians – old people, women, children and babies. Many had been wounded in bombings and had shrapnel injuries.

“We will be keen to get Dr McMaster’s perspective on the crisis and his views on what extra measures Ireland, Europe and the international community could take to help avert a wider catastrophe, protect the lives of the civilian population in Syria and bring about a resolution to the conflict.”

This meeting will start in Committee Room 1, Leinster House at 2.30pm on Thursday, 13th December 2012. Following this meeting, the Committee will discuss a motion from Senator David Norris regarding the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Committee proceedings can be followed live at: http://bit.ly/24YmPI

For further information please contact:

Ciaran Brennan,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2

P: +3531 618 3903
M: 086-0496518
F: +3531 618 4551

Committee Membership

Seán Crowe, TD
Pat Breen, TD (Chairman)
Eric Byrne, TD
Olivia Mitchell, TD
Bernard J Durkan, TD
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, TD
Gerald Nash, TD
Dan Neville, TD
Maureen O’Sullivan, TD
Brendan Smith, TD

Senators

Deirdre Clune,
Mark Daly,
Lorraine Higgins,
Michael Mullins,
David Norris,
Jim Walsh.