Asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno Share this
contribution To ask Her Majesty’s Government what
actions they are taking to help resolve the refugee crisis in
Syria. The...Request free trial
Asked by
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To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they are
taking to help resolve the refugee crisis in Syria.
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My Lords, the UK has pledged more than £2.3 billion to
help millions of people affected by the Syria crisis.
This includes more than £1.1 billion to support
refugees in the region by addressing their humanitarian
needs. The only way to resolve the refugee crisis is a
political settlement that ends the conflict and enables
refugees to return voluntarily.
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My Lords, does the Minister agree with me that Britain
has a responsibility to lead in the resolution of this
crisis in Syria? If so, why has Britain, with GDP per
capita of more than $40,000, only received fewer than
4,000 refugees since March 2014 while it is content for
Lebanon, with less than half our GDP, to accept 1.6
million refugees? With civilian bombing still
continuing, does the Minister think we could send more
humanitarian aid at this time to Syria?
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Let me say first that I absolutely agree that the
United Kingdom should lead by example, and that is
exactly what it is doing. It is the second largest
donor in cash terms to the region, with £1.83 billion
having been given there, helping more than 2 million
people. We have given a pledge that we want to bring
20,000 people from Syria to the UK over the lifetime of
this Parliament, and we are doing that. At the same
time we hosted the London Syria conference in February
last year, which was the biggest fundraiser that has
happened for Syria and the needs there, raising more
than $12 billion. So I believe that on all those
counts, including our activity at the UN Security
Council, we are taking the leadership that the people
of this country expect us to take.
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My Lords, will the Minister reassess the arbitrary
distinction that is made between those fleeing ISIS in
northern Syria and those fleeing the same genocide in
northern Iraq, who are excluded from the vulnerable
persons scheme? Can he explain why, in a Written Answer
given yesterday, the Government said that the
affiliation of those resettled under the scheme is,
“monitored but not routinely reported”?
Would it not help the House, and help us all, to
understand whether proper priority is being given to
victims of genocide if such reporting were to take
place?
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We certainly agree that there ought to be wider access
from the region. That was of course exactly the outcome
which came from the Immigration Act which we passed, and
we have set up a scheme to broaden it to the Middle East
and north Africa and to bring more children from there.
People fleeing genocide are in fear and in need of
protection: that is the definition by which they qualify
for protection under international humanitarian law and,
with the UNHCR, that is what we are working to deliver.
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My Lords, given the ongoing Syrian crisis, will the
Government reconsider their decision not to grant refugee
status to resettled Syrian refugees so that they can
enjoy the full rights and security of refugee status?
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We give them humanitarian protection, which is broadly
the same thing. I know what the noble Baroness will say,
but what we have is people in acute need and we want to
get them here as quickly as possible. Humanitarian
protection is the vehicle by which we can do so. If we
first have to go all the way through the route of
establishing refugee status for a lot of people who have
no identification papers, it means they are at risk for
longer. That is why we have chosen to take that
particular route, to ensure that we can get people here
and give them the help they need as quickly as possible.
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My Lords, do the Government recognise the regrettable
fact that there is no way in which the EU, with or
without the UK, can absorb permanently the total number
of people who have already arrived as refugees and
would-be immigrants, and that the answer must be what two
senior members of Mrs Merkel’s cabinet are now exploring?
That is to have somewhere else outside Europe—they
suggested north Africa—where people can go to be
assessed, processed, helped and cherished as far as
possible, to resolve the problem. The costs which would
be imposed would otherwise be politically wholly
unacceptable to the electorates of the countries inside
Europe.
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As my noble friend will be aware, this was looked at and
examined, but it would require a level of international
agreement in this sphere which has simply eluded us in
the core area of trying to reach a solution in Syria. We
remain absolutely of the opinion that the best way to
deal with movement and migration is to get a political
settlement. That is why we are hopeful and supportive of
the UN Security Council resolution which brought about
the current ceasefire, but we believe it needs to work
beyond that to provide a lasting peace under the Geneva
communiqué.
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My Lords, the most important thing which the Minister has
referred to is the host countries in the region and their
sustainability under the weight of such numbers of
refugees. Can he reassure the House that the Government
will commit further support and aid to those economies,
as well as to the refugees, which are under
such pressure through the violence that has been
occurring in Syria? Unfortunately, international
development has a bad press at the moment, but this is
such a strong case and we should support it.
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The noble Lord is absolutely right, and £1.1 billion of
the money which I mentioned has gone to areas in the
region—most notably, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. That
money is being focused on economic development, by
helping people to find work, and on schools, by helping
children who are currently out of school to get into it
so that their learning does not suffer. The noble Lord is
absolutely right that we should focus on that.
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My Lords, it is the turn of the Liberal Democrat Benches.
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My Lords, may I ask the Minister for an assurance that,
should the Kazakh peace negotiations take place, the
Government will do their utmost to make sure that Syrian
refugees and internally displaced persons are fully
considered? While I am on my feet, can I ask him whether
he could outline what role the Government hope to be able
to play in the peace negotiations?
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We hope to play an active role through the International
Syria Support Group, which has the two strands of
humanitarian aid and conflict resolution. That meets
weekly in Geneva and we are still playing a part in it.
We wish the negotiations all success and will of course
support them in every way we can.
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My Lords, would it not make more sense if we and the
other western European nations offered to take as many as
could come here of the Christian refugees from these
troubled areas, leaving it to the Muslim countries such
as Saudi Arabia, which are immensely wealthy and have
immense amounts of space, to take their fellow Muslims?
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My Lords, we have said that we recognised that Christians
and other minorities face a level of persecution in the
region. In fact, my noble friend will be pleased to note
that there was a commitment to protect Christians,
particularly in the Middle East, in the 2015 Conservative
manifesto. We are very mindful of that commitment; of
course, anyone who is persecuted, as I said to the noble
Lord, Lord Alton, is eligible for international
protection—the type of protection that this Government
have been offering.
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