EU To Pledge $606Mln In 2024 To Support Syrian Population, Refugees - Borrell

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th June, 2023) The European Union will pledge 560 million Euros ($606 million) in 2024 to provide support to people in Syria and Syrian refugees, as well as their host communities, in addition to a 1.5-billion-euro package for 2023, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday.

"I am pleased to confirm the pledge I made last year on behalf of the European Union of 1.5 billion (euros) for the benefit of Syrians in Syria, for the benefit of refugees and their host communities in the region for this Calendar year 2023, and I am also able to pledge for calendar year 2024, the European Union will make available 560 million (euros)," Borrell said during the seventh annual conference on "Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region," hosted by the European Union in Brussels.

Earlier on Thursday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the United Nations had made its "largest appeal" in seeking $11.1 billion from donors to help deliver more aid to Syria. The existing aid for Syria will run out in July and this is the reason the international community must hurry to provide resources for additional assistance, he added.

For 12 years, the protracted Syrian crisis has placed an estimated 15.3 million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance, including 5.5 million refugees forced to flee Syria to neighboring states and 6.8 million internally displaced people, according to the UN Refugee Agency.