Switzerland  - The Kuwait government has allocated USD 5 million to fund IOM's on-going humanitarian assistance to migrants and conflict-affected populations in Syria.

The funding will help save lives and improve conditions of more than 500,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), migrants, refugees and returnees in Syria.

The funds will primarily go towards providing emergency shelter assistance and non-food relief items (NFIs) to displaced Syrians currently taking refuge at collective centres in public and private buildings across the country. The majority are found in Aleppo, the second largest city, Raqqa and Hassakah in the east, Suweida in the south and the capital, Damascus.

Since mid-September 2012, IOM has expanded its geographical reach to assist IDPs in Suweida and Homs in coordination with 12 local partners, including the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SAR), SOS Children Village, the Orthodox Charitable Organization, Ahl al Sham Initiative and others.

IOM has already rehabilitated three collective settlements and improved living conditions in former schools and other public and private buildings hosting internally displaced families.

The funds will also assist the repatriation of the most vulnerable migrants stranded inside Syria, who have no means to go home. Among them are migrants at high risk of human trafficking, the elderly and the sick, and migrants from countries unable to help their nationals to leave, especially those with no diplomatic representation in Syria.

Their return to countries of origin is currently hindered by a host of factors including lack of travel documents, debts owed to recruitment agencies, inability to purchase flight tickets and insecurity around them.

The Kuwait funding will pay for air tickets to their countries of origin, as well as pre-departure health screening, psychosocial support, and the provision of food, water and medicine in transit areas.