Syria Today | US: Europe and wealthy Arab states must increase regional refugee support

US: Europe and wealthy Arab states must increase regional refugee support

Europe and wealthy Arab states should do more to help Iraqi and Palestinian refugees, US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration Eric Schwartz said on a trip to Damascus on November 18.

Schwartz also said there was “no question” that the Iraqi government needs to do “much more” to assist Iraqis who left their homeland in the wake of the US-led invasion of 2003.

“Much more needs to be done, not only by the government of Iraq, but also by European donors in particular where contributions really have not been adequate,” Schwartz told a group of local journalists. “We need much greater levels of support if we are going to do what we need to do to promote the process of return, reintegration and reconciliation.”

UNHCR Syria has requested SYP 7.6bn (USD 166m) in funding for 2010. At the time of publication, the agency had only secured SYP 2.5bn (USD 55m) in international donations.

Acknowledging the US had not done enough to support Iraqi refugees in the past, Schwartz said this was no longer the case. He said the US resettled 18,838 Iraqi refugees from October 1 2008 to October 1 2009, including 5,661 from Syria. This compares to 13,822 resettlements in 2008 – 4,637 from Syria – and 1,200 in 2007. Next year, the US expects to resettle some 17,000 Iraqis from the region.

“In the past, there were very legitimate concerns that the United States was not doing its fair share,” Schwartz said. “Over the past couple of years the United States has demonstrated its commitment to this issue. The numbers we’re resettling are now significant and substantial.”

The UNHCR estimates that up to 2 million Iraqi refugees are living in neighbouring countries, most of them in Syria and Jordan. A further 2.8 million are internally displaced.

Schwartz’s trip to the region also comes at a time when UNRWA is facing a regional budget shortfall of SYP 5.75bn (USD 125m) for 2010. Schwartz said the US accounted for 33 percent of UNRWA funding and would lobby EU and Arab states to move to cover the shortfall.