Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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195. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the efforts being made to address the refugee crisis in Syria and Iraq; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33503/17]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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The ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Syria have forced millions of people to flee their homes. In Syria alone, an estimated 6.3 million people are internally displaced, while a further 5 million people have fled to neighbouring countries, including Iraq. Inside Iraq, a further 3.1 million people have been displaced through the conflict there. The levels of humanitarian need in the region are unprecedented, presenting enormous challenges to the international community and in particular to neighbouring countries which are struggling to host large numbers of refugees.

Ireland has supported the people of Syria since the conflict began in 2012 with more than €76 million in humanitarian assistance. By the end of 2017, I would expect that we will have provided close to €100m. Our support provides life-saving assistance to people caught in the conflict inside Syria and also to Syrians who have fled to neighbouring countries, such as Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.

We have also provided over €8 million in humanitarian support to the people of Iraq since 2014. This includes €2 million released earlier this year to the UN Humanitarian Fund, which directs funding to partners best placed to provide assistance to those who need it most. Even as the conflict in Iraq eases, millions of Iraqis will still require significant humanitarian assistance while the difficult task of rebuilding their communities begins.

In addition, since 2012, Ireland has also deployed 50 members of its Rapid Response Corps to work with UN organisations working on the crises in Iraq and Syria.

A core focus of Ireland’s humanitarian assistance in the region is to provide the means to rebuild livelihoods and ensure that children can return to school while displaced from their home communities.

Ireland also contributes to the needs of refugees in the Middle East region through the EU and UN responses. In March, the EU announced €42.5 million in additional humanitarian support for Iraq, bringing EU humanitarian assistance in Iraq to over €309 million since 2015.

We continue to monitor the situation in Syria and Iraq closely, and are preparing a further release of funds to Syria in the coming weeks.