“Assistance should not be provided to enable Syrians to reach Europe, but instead they should be given assistance through enabling them to remain in place and return home”, declared State Secretary for the Aid of Persecuted Christians Tristan Azbej from the Prime Minister’s Office.
In a statement to Hungarian reporters in the recess of the final day of the two-day international donor conference convened to assist Syria, the State Secretary said opinions calling for mandatory resettlement according to quotas may still be heard at the session. “In contrast, Hungary is helping people to remain in place via several programmes by supporting local communities”, he said.
He particularly highlighted Christian communities, which suffered especially badly during the war, when they were targeted by the Islamic State terrorist organisation. He emphasised the fact that within the framework of its Hungary Helps Programme, Hungary has already spent over 4 billion forints (EUR 12.7 million) in the interests of enabling Syrians to remain in place and return home. “Amongst others, Hungary is funding Christian missions in Damascus, Aleppo and Homs, which provide care to both Christian and non-Christian internal refugees. The programme is also funding the rebuilding and operation of destroyed schools, and is supporting initiatives aimed at enabling families who have fled Syria to return home”, he underlined.
Mr. Azbej also said that thanks to Hungarian funding provided to a local initiative of the Greek Catholic Church in Aleppo, over 300 refugee families were able to return to the city. According to the State Secretary, there seems to be an agreement taking shape between the participants of the donor conference that people must be enabled to remain in the land of their birth in Syria.
He said it was unacceptable that only Hungary and Poland are representing the issue of persecuted Christians, however, in view of the fact that Christians are the most persecuted religious group in global comparison. “In Syria, the number of Christians has fallen to less than half during just ten years. Disputes surround the related Hungarian position, and this is unacceptable from a humanitarian perspective”, Mr. Azbej said.
The representatives of over eighty countries are taking part in the third donor conference in Brussels. The European Union and its member states are the largest international donors. On Thursday, the European Union pledged a little over two billion euros for this year to support people in need living in war-torn Syria and seeking asylum in neighbouring countries. Individual donations by EU member states are not included in this figure.