UNHCR 86th Standing Committee - Agenda item 3 a) Regional updates: iii) Middle East and North Africa - EU Statement

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UNHCR 86th Standing Committee - Agenda item 3 a) Regional updates: iii) Middle East and North Africa - EU Statement

08.03.2023 Press and information team of the Delegation to the UN in Geneva

Chair,

I am speaking on behalf of the EU and its Member States.

1. Let me first extend our sincerecondolences to the people of Türkiye and Syria for the tragic loss of lives and devastating impact of the recent earthquakes. Our hearts go out to all those affected, including the staff and families of UNHCR and partners.

2. In Türkiye, the EU and its Member States have offered millions of emergency items via our Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM). Medical teams, a medical evacuation plane, and support from the rescEU reserve were deployed. Our efforts are coordinated with the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency. In Syria, we have mobilized support through the UCPM. Our aid is channeled via hubs in Beirut and Gaziantep,with the support of EU civil protection experts. Additional in-kind humanitarian assistance is provided via the European Humanitarian Response Capacity (EHRC). Vital shelter items, blankets, kitchen sets, from the EU'shumanitarian stockpiles in Brindisi and Dubai are being delivered to Syria, both in government and non-government controlled Northwest. In addition, the EHRC supported other humanitarian actors to deploy their emergency stocks, by organizing the pooling of transport from major humanitarian stockpiles. We have also pledged additional humanitarian funding for both Türkiye and Syria.

3. The earthquake hit an area which was already hosting a significant number of refugees and internally displaced people in vulnerable situations. In Türkiye, the government and local communities have shown enormous generosity towards Syrian refugees over the past years. We thank the Turkish authorities for providing temporary waivers to Syrians who wish to return home while retaining their residency permit in Türkiye. Now, millions of people in Türkiye are left without homes and many Syrian refugees are facing an impossible choice: staying in the disaster area or the perspective of returning to their areas of origin in Syria, still at war and in rubbles.

4. The EU and its Member States stand in full solidarity with the people of Türkiye and Syria. In March, the EU and the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU are organizing a Donors' Conference in Brussels to mobilize funds for the people of Türkiye and Syria,. We call on all States and the international community to contribute to these efforts. The annual Brussels Conference on the future of Syria and the region, scheduled for June, remains as necessary as ever.

5. After 12 years of conflict, the Syria crisis is still far from being solved and the earthquake has provided another crisis in the crisis. It is important that the assistance goes to people in need in all areas in Syria. We welcome the opening of new border crossings for humanitarian aid between Türkiye and Syria and hope that these arrangements will be respected by all stakeholders and expanded to improve humanitarian access and delivery in Syria, also for UNHCR. The vulnerability of IDPs in Syria - especially in the North - is particularly high. UNHCR's role in providing shelter is more needed than ever to save and sustain lives. We welcome UNHCR's work on protection services to forcibly displaced people, returnees and host communities, which should be further scaled-up. We further reiterate the importance of ensuring that return is voluntary, safe and dignified.

6. We stress that EU sanctions do not impede life-saving assistance to Syrian people in response to the earthquake. They do not prohibit the export of food, medicines or medical equipment and do not target Syria's healthcare system. It is now key to explore how we can collectively further facilitate and expedite humanitarian aid.

7. The Syria crisis continues to have a severe spillover in the region. We commend the neighboring host countries for their longstanding generosity towards refugee communities, despite the current economic challenges. The EU and its Member States continue to provide significant support to the regional refugee response, to assist refugees as well as host communities. Refugees in hosting countries should preserve their rights, including the right to registration, documentation, decent living conditions and adequate access to basic services. At the same time, in Lebanon, more support to the Lebanese population is needed to mitigate the consequences of the compounded crises. In Jordan, the protection of refugees, regardless of nationality, remains a priority and the registration of non-Syrian refugees should resume. With the support of UNHCR, access to the Rukban population and the situation of Syrian refugees in Azraq camp Village 5 requires our continued attention.

8. In Yemen, the operating environment deteriorates both in the North and South, with access constraints, increasing bureaucratic impediments and insecurity incidents. We are particularly concerned about the enforcement by the Houthis of the Mahram policy, the requirement for female humanitarian staff to be accompanied by a close male relative. Equal participation of women in the humanitarian response and proper access to women and girls in need is a must. Coordinating and maintaining a united voice among donors as well as the actors involved in humanitarian negotiations and diplomacy is critical, including through the humanitarian Senior Officials' Meetings on Yemen. After eight years of conflict, the living conditions of refugees and asylum-seekers are further deteriorating. As protection needs reached an all-time high, UNHCR's focus on these persons in vulnerable situations is much appreciated. We are also concerned about the severity of needs refugees and migrants from the Horn of Africa are facing when travelling through Yemen towards other parts of the Arabian Peninsula. We welcome the development of a joint strategy by UNHCR and IOM within the Refugee-Migrant multi-sector coordination, and look forward to an update on progress and timeline for adoption.

9. In Iraq, UNHCR remains the leading partner for the protection of refugees and IDPs. In the current transition phase when the humanitarian cluster system has been discontinued, we thank UNHCR for having taken the initiative to strengthen coordination amongst protection partners, although more coordination and cooperation efforts are needed to avoid overlaps and increase leverage. UNHCR is playing a key role in advocating to address the status of many stateless IDPs, notably by providing nationality and civil documentation. UNHCR's cooperation with the Kurdistan Regional Government to find durable and dignified solutions to those residing in IDP camps is to be commended too.

10. In Libya, UNHCR's presence provides significant support to refugees and asylum-seekers, including refugee status determination, registration, emergency evacuations to Rwanda and Niger, protection and health services and distribution of cash, food and non-food items. The EU and its Member States fully support the UN Secretary General's recent call to respect international refugee law and for Libyan authorities to find rights-based alternatives to detention. We also encourage a rapid conclusion of our joint work to revitalize the AU-UN-EU Tripartite Taskforce for Libya, as agreed in the last AU-EU Summit.

Thank you.