Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade.

I know Deputy Phelan and others in the House will join me in emphasising our sense of horror and dismay at the relentless onslaught upon the Syrian civilian population. The brutally repressive actions of the Assad regime and the armed resistance from elements of the opposition have resulted in extraordinary levels of human suffering, which has been outlined by Deputy Phelan. Speaking at the UN General Assembly last Friday the Tánaiste described the situation in Syria today as an affront to humanity.

I welcome the opportunity to outline how Ireland has responded. The Minister of State with responsibility for trade and development, Deputy Joe Costello, visited Jordan in August to assess the situation on the ground.

Statistics cannot adequately convey the extent of the humanitarian crisis but they are shocking. Over 20,000 people have been killed in the violence, 2.5 million people in Syria are in desperate need of assistance and over 1.2 million Syrians are displaced within their own country. There has been indiscriminate shelling of densely populated areas, excessive use of force and random targeting of innocent civilians. As the humanitarian situation deteriorates and winter approaches, there is urgent need for additional food, medical care and shelter. There is growing concern for the 500,000 Palestinian refugees in Syria who have been living for generations in camps which are now being affected by the violence.

The number of refugees in neighbouring countries has reached over 300,000, about 75% of them women and children. While visiting the Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan, the Minister of State, Deputy Costello witnessed at first hand how the staff of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, are struggling with limited resources to provide even the most basic services for a rapidly increasing refugee community. While the UN and agencies have recently been able to scale up the delivery of humanitarian assistance, the operation continues to be hampered by the Syrian regime and by violence on the part of Syrian Government forces and the armed opposition.

As early as March this year, Ireland provided €500,000 in emergency funding for the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UNHCR and the World Food Programme. At the time of the Minister of State's visit to Jordan, Ireland mobilised an additional €1.6 million of humanitarian assistance to the International Committee of the Red Cross, UNHCR, the World Health Organisation and the International Rescue Committee. This included non-food items such as tents, mattresses, kitchen sets, water tanks and jerry cans from our rapid response stocks in Dubai for Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan. Only last week, Ireland provided funding to the United Nations Relief Works Agency to help Palestinian refugees in Syria. This brings Ireland's support since March to €2.45 million.

Ireland is also working with the international community to end the suffering of the Syrian people and bring about an early political transition. What is needed above all is a strong resolution from the Security Council that will authorise targeted sanctions, including a comprehensive arms embargo, against all who are violating the basic rights of the Syrian people. There also needs to be accountability for what has happened in Syria, and Ireland fully supports referral of the situation to the International Criminal Court.

With no early political solution in sight, the prospect is all too real of continued displacement and humanitarian suffering within Syria and an escalating refugee crisis. The latest predictions are that the number of Syrian refugees could reach 710,000 by the end of the year, some 250,000 in Jordan alone.

The immediate imperative is to respond to the humanitarian needs on the ground while maintaining international efforts to find a sustainable political solution. Ireland and our EU partners are firmly committed on both fronts. Collectively, we have already provided well over €200 million in humanitarian assistance and we will remain fully engaged in solidarity with the people of Syria.

I commend Deputy Phelan for raising this issue. It is important that it be raised in parliaments throughout the world, to ensure that the international response is as strong as can possibly be mobilised.

See this speech in context