Written answers

Tuesday, 4 July 2017

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Syrian Conflict

Photo of Darragh O'BrienDarragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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249. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the position regarding the situation in Syria; the recent efforts made by the EU to resolve this conflict; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31025/17]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The situation in Syria continues to be a matter of grave concern. 13.5 million Syrians are in need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria including 6.3 million internally displaced people, 1.5 million are living under siege conditions which gives rise to serious protection concerns, and a further 5 million Syrian refugees have fled to neighbouring countries and the wider region.

The search for a peaceful resolution of the Syrian conflict remains a top foreign policy priority for Ireland and the EU. EU Foreign Ministers discussed the situation in Syria at their April Council meeting.

They adopted a new EU Strategy for Syria which sets out the EU’s main lines of action in Syria including continued support for and direct assistance to the UN-brokered talks in Geneva, the next round of which is due to resume on 10 July. This includes, in particular, an EU-led initiative, in coordination with the UN, to develop political dialogue with key actors from the region to identify common ground for the end-state in Syria and the conditions for the reconciliation and reconstruction process. Named the EU Syria Peace Process Support Initiative, it aims to develop a concrete platform to support the peace process and ceasefire, strengthen the opposition parties and civil society, and support for the efforts of the UN Special Envoy for Syria to include civil society in his work through the Civil Society Support Room and the Women’s Advisory Board.

It also includes support for transitional justice initiatives to help ensure accountability for war crimes, human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law and restrictive measures against Syrian individuals and entities supporting the regime as long as the repression of civilians continues. The sanctions currently in place include notably an oil embargo, restrictions on certain investments, a freeze of the assets of the Syrian central bank within the EU, export restrictions on equipment and technology that might be used for internal repression as well as on equipment and technology for monitoring or interception of internet or telephone communications. In addition, over 200 persons and 70 entities are targeted by a travel ban and an asset freeze over the violent repression against the civilian population in Syria. In March, the EU added four high-ranking Syrian military officials to the sanctions list for their role in the use of chemical weapons against civilians. The EU keeps the sanctions regime under constant review and will expand and adjust it as appropriate.

The EU and its Member States are also playing a leading role in the humanitarian response to the crisis. More than €9.4 billion has already been mobilised for humanitarian, stabilisation and resilience assistance to support Syrians inside the country and in neighbouring countries, making the EU the largest single donor to the effort. At the Brussels conference in April 2017 which was co-hosted by the EU, a further €3.7 billion for 2017 was pledged by the EU and its Member States, representing nearly 67% of the pledges.

Ireland fully supports the EU assistance to the UN-led peace talks in Geneva, the EU’s focus on justice and accountability, and the EU sanctions regime. We have also made a significant contribution to the humanitarian effort. Since 2012, Ireland has contributed €78.6 million to the humanitarian effort in response to the conflict in Syria. This is Irish Aid’s largest response to a single crisis in recent years. At the Syria conference in Brussels in March, Ireland pledged to provide at least €25 million in humanitarian assistance to the region during 2017. €11.1 million of this pledge has already been fulfilled so far this year. Through our annual contributions to EU Institutions, Ireland also supports the EU’s humanitarian response to the Syria crisis, from which €445 million was contributed in 2016.

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