UK says it will provide US$63 million in humanitarian aid for ‘most vulnerable’ Syrians

Foreign Minister David Lammy said Britain will also work ‘diplomatically to help secure better governance in Syria’s future’

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Displaced families collect aid provided by the United Nations at a refugee camp in the town of Al-Bardaqli, northern Syria. On Sunday, the UK said it would release US$63 million in aid for the ‘most vulnerable’ Syrians and for those in need in neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 6:09am, 16 Dec 2024Updated: 6:11am, 16 Dec 2024

The British government said it will release £50 million (US$63 million) of humanitarian aid for “the most vulnerable” Syrians in Syria and in neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan, the foreign ministry said on Sunday.

“We’re committed to supporting the Syrian people as they chart a new course,” Foreign Minister David Lammy said in a statement.

The funds, which for the most part will be sent to United Nations agencies, “will enable an urgent scale-up of humanitarian assistance when needs are at their highest, and support delivery of essential public services in Syria”.

Lammy said Britain will also work “diplomatically to help secure better governance in Syria’s future”, adding that “it is vital that the future Syrian government brings together all groups to establish the stability and respect the Syrian people deserve”.

Separately, Britain said it will give £120,000 to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for its work in Syria.

Lammy also said on Sunday that London had established diplomatic contact with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group in Syria, which led the offensive that ousted Bashar al-Assad.

They remain “a proscribed terrorist organisation, but we can have diplomatic contact and so we do have diplomatic contact, as you would expect”, Lammy said.