(AFP Photo)
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry participated Tuesday in the third international donor conference to support the humanitarian situation in Syria.
The conference, held in Kuwait, follows the fourth anniversary of the outbreak of the Syrian crisis, which led to the displacement of nearly half the Syrian population.
The minister’s speech discussed the burden suffered by the economy and infrastructure in Egypt as a result of developments in the country and the region during the past three years, a Tuesday foreign ministry statement detailed.
Nevertheless, the Egyptian government had taken a decision to allow Syrians free access to public services just like Egyptian citizens, namely health and education sectors, which are the sectors that have substantial financial support from the Egyptian government.
Shoukry’s speech expressed Egypt’s support of the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP), the United Nation’s first global response to crises. It is an approach that “effectively harnesses the capacities, knowledge and resources of humanitarian and development partners to create a durable and multi-faceted resilience-based response to the Syria crisis”, he said.
The statement said that this approach is expected to aid refugee host communities and national governments in providing necessities to meet the challenges of large numbers of Syrian citizens in a way that ensures the continuation of providing support.
Shoukry reiterated the Egyptian stance towards the Syrian crisis, demanding an end to the killings and the state of attrition, while preserving the structure of the state and its institutions in order to prevent complete chaos.
The United Nation Refugee Agency estimates there are over 140,000 Syrian refugees in Egypt, which includes Palestinian refugees who had been living in Syria.
Many refugees in Egypt have limited access to basic services and have faced violence and discrimination, as well as arbitrary arrest and unlawful detention, according to Amnesty International.
The conference hosts representatives from 78 countries, in addition to 40 international organisations, and the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon. It seeks to raise $8.4bn to help Syrians who have fled their homes.
The conference was opened with a speech by the Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, in which he highlighted that the conference comes in recognition of the magnitude of the suffering experienced by the Syrian people inside and outside Syria. He said that the situation in Syria is the largest humanitarian disaster in modern history, and that this conference aims to alleviate the suffering experienced by the “brothers” in Syria.
The Syrian revolution started in the city of Daraa in 2011. Syria has gradually become home for multiple Al-Qaeda-affiliated insurgents, such as the Al-Nusra Front and “Islamic State”. Since then, the situation has majorly devolved, leaving thousands of people dead, including children, and more than 3 million refugees across border countries, according to United Nations reports.
