ABU DHABI // Aid worth Dh55 million to provide food to Palestinian refugees in Syria was approved by the UAE on Monday.
The grant meant that the UAE had pledged Dh539.5 million in support to Syrian refugees since 2012.
The Ministry of International Cooperation and Development (Micad) said the latest donation would help 361,300 victims, representing 92,200 displaced Palestinian families inside Syria.
On Monday at the ministry’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi, an agreement was signed with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to grant the money.
The aid is part of the UAE’s promise to help the refugees made at the Second International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria, which took place in Kuwait City on January 15. At that time, the UAE agreed to donate Dh220 million to refugees from the civil war.
This followed the First International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria, which was held in Kuwait in January last year.
The money has been disbursed inside Syria and in neighbouring Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey where refugees are housed.
Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, minister at the Micad and head of the National Committee for the Coordination of Foreign Aid, said that the UAE’s support of the refugees was part of a long-standing commitment to the Palestinian people.
“The UAE historical role in giving support and assistance to our Palestinian brothers is part of the UAE’s humanitarian commitments and long-term attitudes in supporting Arab brothers and all victims of humanitarian crises worldwide, including the Syrian crisis,” she said.
“There is an urgent need to provide support and assistance to Palestinian refugees living in camps in Syria as there are great difficulties that face the delivery of humanitarian aid to them due to prevailing tensions, conflicts and threats that hinder the efforts of relief teams and limit their access.”
The long-standing cooperation between the UAE and the UN agencies aimed to ensure that the basics of living, especially food, were continuously secured, she said.
The minister also noted President Sheikh Khalifa’s continuous support to Palestinian refugees around the world.
“This generous policy has always been adopted since the foundation of the UAE federation. Since then, assistance caravans to Palestinian brothers inside Palestine and also in hosting countries has never stopped.”
Schools, hospitals, roads and complete cities had been built by the UAE, besides health and food assistance, she added.
She also said that the UAE was committed to help the Syrian people through the Syria Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan. This was launched by the United National Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs last year to raise US$1.41 billion (Dh5.18m) to deal with the humanitarian crisis in Syria.
The agreement was signed also by Pierre Krahenbuhl, the UNRWA’s commissioner general. He said: “This donation from UAE through Micad is extremely welcome, and comes as a timely reminder of the continued war in Syria.”
UNRWA continues to operate wherever Palestine refugees are in need, and the situation for those Palestine refugees in Syria remains as desperate as ever, Mr Krahenbuhl said.
Mohammed Al Suwaidi, director general of Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and Hazza Al Qahtani, Micad’s undersecretary, also attended the ceremony.
anwar@thenational.ae
