Ms Brid Kennedy:

I thank the Chair and the committee for inviting Concern, GOAL and Trócaire here today to present on the humanitarian impact of the Syrian crisis and for taking the time to focus on this critical issue. Each organisation has shared a briefing paper in advance. We will each talk about the situation from the perspective of our own organisations.

I will begin with Concern's experience in this regard. Concern is working in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey. Concern was here briefing the same committee four and a half years ago. It is unfortunate that we are still talking about the crisis in Syria. Since then, the war has raged on. Some 500,000 people have been killed and 6.5 million Syrians are living in the neighbouring countries of Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. Many families have been torn apart and many lives have been shattered as a result of this crisis. While the bombing has stopped in many parts of Syria, there is no sign of peace. Active conflict continues and even as we speak people are fleeing for their lives. The regime has regained control of a large part of the country but a few areas such as Idlib and the north east are still controlled by other groups.

Normality in Syria today is barely tolerable for many of the people. Thousands have been displaced on numerous occasions and the conditions are appalling. The past winter has been extremely hard. Thanks to Irish Aid support, Concern has been providing tents, stoves and blankets to help keep people warm and survive the bitter winter. Throughout 2018, Concern supported 1 million people in Syria, most of whom were fleeing the conflict.

On a more positive note, we are also supporting people who are living in more stable conditions with agriculture inputs and vocational training. This offers them hope, bolsters their courage and gives them confidence to rebuild their lives. If stability was maintained and Concern had more funding, we would like to spend much more of our effort and time on helping people to recover from the war.

At the end of January and in early February, I visited Lebanon. It was just after the third flood of 2019 had hit. I met several families from Syria who were living in below-basic standards. It was freezing cold. I was freezing and could not get warm. The refugees described their misery and their deepening levels of poverty. One woman, Aisha, outlined how her husband was tortured while they were in Syria, and is now in ill health and unable to work. She was taking her 13 year old son from school to try to earn a meagre living for herself, her husband and their boy's other three siblings. This, as I learned, is what many other families are doing. Rates of child labour are increasing enormously. The incidence of child marriage has also increased greatly.

Of all the women and families I met, when I inquired if they would like to return to Syria, not one was willing to do so. Among the reasons are that their homes have been blasted and they have nothing to return to. They are too fearful to go back as they risk conscription or being detained again. The clear message is that while the bombing has stopped, there is no peace there.

Lebanon is the size of Munster. It has a population of 4 million but now hosts 1 million Syrian refugees, thus making one in four of the population a Syrian refugee. Neighbouring Turkey hosts 3.5 million Syrian refugees and it has brought in legislation that allows many of those refugees to access basic services such as education and healthcare.

There are many tragedies from the Syrian crisis but one of the biggest is that more than 1 million babies have been born to Syrians living in exile. These babies, along with hundreds of thousands of other children, have very little access to education. I urge that we ensure there is no lost generation. Education is a right for everybody and offers hope for the future. Unfortunately for Concern, our education program in Lebanon is at risk due to funding constraints.

The scale, severity and complexity of the humanitarian needs of people in Syria remain extensive. I thank Irish Aid and the Irish public for all the support they have given to Concern and other organisations that helps us to alleviate the sufferings of Syrians, whether in Syria or neighbouring countries. I call on the Government, despite all of the support it has given, to do a lot more.

There are three asks. The first is that we develop new energetic initiatives in continuing to use the voice and influence it has where it can bring to long-lasting peace. In this process it should call on women and promote women's leadership so they can be involved in the peace process that will lead to lasting peace. The second is to honour the commitments the Government has already made, including in the context of the global compact for refugees, as mentioned in the White Paper launched last week by the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste and Minister Foreign Affairs and Trade. That commitment supports refugees who want to return to Syria and host governments in the region.

Our final ask of the Government is that at minimum the level of funding Irish Aid has been providing towards the Syrian crisis is sustained. Ideally, we would like it to be increased so more can be done to help through the emergency response and to help people recover in the longer term.