Welcome
Foreign Minister Steinmeier: the Federal Government is increasing aid for refugees in Syria and Iraq
On 1 October, the Federal Government increased its humanitarian assistance for refugees in Syria, Iraq and the neighbouring countries by ten millions euros.
Commenting on this, Foreign Minister Steinmeier stated:
The catastrophic plight of the people in Syria and Iraq has been further exacerbated by the advance of the ISIS troops. Aid organisations are warning that they are running out of funds for food aid.
It is now urgent for us to make provisions so that the refugees can make it through the upcoming winter.
That is a first step. Over the next few weeks we want to further expand our assistance.
I will be hosting a conference in Berlin on 28 October at which, together with 40 international partners, we want to agree on measures to provide more effective and enhanced assistance to the people affected by this unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
Background information:
The newly provided funds are to be used for the following assistance measures:
- five million euros for the World Food Programme of the United Nations (WFP) in order to maintain the provision of food aid for Syria, Jordan and Turkey
- three million euros for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for assistance measures in the countries affected by the Syria crisis, including Iraq
- two million euros for assistance measures provided by humanitarian NGOs (Welthungerhilfe, CARE, Diakonie) in Turkey to deal with the current refugee situation in Ayn Al‑arab