Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am deeply disturbed by the appalling hardship the people of Syria continue to face after 14 years of conflict. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, an estimated 16.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Syria this year, a further and worrying year-on-year increase.

I am also mindful of the many hardships that Lebanon faces today, including a ruined economy and the threat of conflict in the south, which has also caused internal displacement of the population there. Lebanon hosts the highest number of refugees per capita worldwide, including at least 1.5 million Syrian refugees, 90% of whom are living in extreme poverty.

In providing our humanitarian assistance in Lebanon, which was over €6.4 million in 2023, we are conscious of the tensions within the country. Most of our main partners, including the UN Lebanon Humanitarian Fund and the World Food Programme, provide assistance to Syrian refugees, but also to the Lebanese population most in need. While I understand the challenge for the Lebanese Government in hosting such large numbers, I have raised concerns about the rise in anti-refugee sentiment in Lebanon and the threat of forced returns of refugees to Syria, including during a meeting with my Lebanese counterpart in New York last September.

The most recent report of the UN Commission of Inquiry for Syria found again that the conditions for the safe, dignified, voluntary, and sustainable return of refugees are not yet in place in Syria. Returnees may face arrest, incommunicado detention, torture, and death in custody. Ireland and the EU will continue to call for accountability for the Syrian regime and we will not abandon the many vulnerable Syrian refugees who have been forced to flee the country. Last year, we provided over €29m to the Syria Crisis Response and earthquake response in Syria, bringing our total contribution to the Syria crisis to just under €247 million – our largest ever response to any humanitarian crisis.