UAE has donated nearly Dh500 million in aid to Syrian refugees

Rashid Al Mansouri, consul general of the UAE to Irbil, meets Syrian-Kurdish refugees as aid is distributed by Emirates Red Crescent at the Quru Gusik refugee camp in the Kurdish region of northern IrShow more

ABU DHABI // The UAE has spent US$132 million (Dh484.5m) since 2012 providing aid to the victims of the Syrian civil war, the Ministry of International Cooperation and Development said on Sunday.

Humanitarian aid was channelled into Syria and neighbouring countries Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey, all of which are sheltering Syrian refugees.

The aid is in addition to $60m released by the UAE in April, after the UAE pledged $300m at the humanitarian conference for Syria in Kuwait last year.

About Dh56.7m was donated in 2012 and Dh302.4m last year. So far this year, aid has totalled about Dh125.4m. Syrian refugees in Jordan received the lion’s share of the assistance, Dh265.7m, followed by Lebanon (Dh129.4m), Syria (Dh62m), Iraq (Dh19.8m) and Turkey (Dh1.8m).

More than a year after establishing the Emirati-Jordanian camp for Syrian refugees in Murijep la Fhoud in Jordan, the UAE is asserting its commitment towards helping Syrians during the humanitarian crisis, in cooperation with international organisations, said Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Development and International Cooperation.

Speaking after a visit to the camp, she thanked the UAE Unified Relief Team, staff at the Emirati Field Hospital in Al Mafraq, donors, Jordanian organisations, the media and other partners for support.

Sheikha Lubna also inaugurated the General Emirati Medical Clinic in Al Zaatari Camp for Syrian Refugees, funded by the Big Heart Campaign. Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi is the patron of the campaign and Eminent Advocate at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The clinic has a central lab, emergency room, facilities for mental health and people with special needs, and a pharmacy.