STATEMENT

Laura Thompson

Deputy Director General, International Organization for Migration

Syria Brussels Conference -  "Supporting the Future of Syria and the region"

25 April 2018, Brussels, Belgium

Excellencies,

Distinguished Guests,

On behalf of the International Organization for Migration, I have the honor to submit to you the following considerations on the Syria crisis:  

Now in its eighth year, the humanitarian crisis in Syria remains unprecedented in scale, severity, and complexity. Despite sporadic and partial halts to the fighting, Syrians continue to face, every day, a level of hardship that is almost unheard of in recent times. Last year alone, 2.9 million people were displaced inside Syria. In the first few months of 2018, nearly 700,000 people have been displaced, many more than once.

Humanitarian partners have stayed alongside Syrians and delivered assistance to millions of people. They have done so despite the danger; despite deliberate attacks. More than 7 years into the conflict, the pressures and threats continue to prevent many of us from doing our work in a credible manner. The example of needs assessment is revealing. Local Syrian partners risk their lives on a daily basis to help humanitarians get an independent and impartial picture of the needs inside Syria. Until now the ability of the humanitarian community to do so continues to be undermined by parties to the conflict, which threatens our collective humanitarian response inside Syria.

Last but not least, let me touch upon the issue of returns. IOM tracked over 800,000 spontaneous returns in 2017 and nearly half a million in the first few months of 2018, mostly from internally displaced people. These figures might appear high to some of you, but they are still considerably low if compared to new displacements.  Returns are often happening in areas that are not safe, contaminated by mines and other unexploded ordonnances. The international community should not facilitate or promote returns at this stage of the conflict. On the contrary we need to increase our support to the neighbouring countries of Syria who continue to host millions of refugees. This includes helping refugees to access durable solutions such as resettlement. In 2017 alone, IOM resettled over 37,000 Syrian refugees from Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt to 23 countries.

Thank you