“Italy is playing its part, we’re doing a great deal to support the Lebanese armed forces, and we’re doing a great deal to support the refugees. Because the stability and prosperity of that region is vitally important to our own stability and prosperity”. Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini was speaking at the international conference in Berlin to confirm Italy’s commitment to receive refugees and provide humanitarian aid, especially for the countries bearing the greatest burden of the Syrian crisis, such as Jordan and Lebanon.
There is, however, an awareness, reiterated by Minister Mogherini, that the end of the crisis in Syria and the end of the suffering of the Syrian population will require a political solution that preserves the country’s territorial integrity and national unity.
Aid from Italy
Minister Mogherini noted that Italy has already allocated 51 million euros for Syrian refugees. And the conference brought encouraging words from the UN Envoy for Syria, Staffan deMistura, who will seek to open a dialogue among the parties.
Over 3 million refugees since 2011
Since 2011, said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, more than 3 million people have fled across the borders of Syria, a country in flames, most of whom still live in neighbouring countries.
Over 1 million in Lebanon and 600,000 in Jordan, the countries whose stability is increasingly at risk, and 1 million in Turkey. Inside Syria, 6.5 million people have fled the war and the terror inflicted by Islamic State (ISIS) or by the regime’s bombs.