Iraq calls on international community to solve Syria refugee crisis

Iraqi Foreign Minister, Fuad Hussein, yesterday called on the international community to provide humanitarian aid to the Syrian refugees in its territory.

“Iraq hosts nearly 260,000 officially registered Syrians, in addition to tens of thousands of others who are non-registered and scattered across the country, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees official data,” Hussein told reporters in the capital city of Baghdad.

He urged the International community “to support  the Iraqi government in resolving the fate of the refugees in Iraqi camps.”

READ: Iran shells Iraq’s Kurdish capital to target ‘terrorist bases’

The sixth annual Brussels Conference for Syria was held yesterday and saw donor states pledge $4.3 billion for this year and $2.4 billion “for 2023 and beyond”, while international financial institutions also pledged $1.8 billion in loans. The UN had sought $10.5 billion for 2022 alone.

The pledges match that of last year, though demands have skyrocketed.

Save the Children has warned that the $6.7 billion pledged is “woefully inadequate and falls far short of what is required”.