Foreign Minister Maas on humanitarian assistance for northwest Syria

The winter is fast approaching, temperatures are dropping and the weather is worsening – also in northwest Syria, where the humanitarian situation is catastrophic and around 2.7 million internally displaced persons are dependent on humanitarian assistance. The spread of coronavirus is exacerbating the situation still further. If it gets cold in the region, rains non-stop or even snows, the situation in the frequently more than inadequate shelters quickly becomes life-threatening. This is why it continues to be important that the international community provide assistance.

We are providing a further 20 million euro for winter relief for the UN’s Syria Cross-Border Humanitarian Fund to ensure that the onset of winter does not amount to a death sentence. This assistance can only reach the people in northwest Syria across the border from Turkey.

While humanitarian assistance saves lives at risk, it cannot resolve the conflict in Syria politically in the long term. Germany is therefore continuing to lend its support to the efforts of UN Special Envoy Pederson with respect to a political process to resolve the conflict.