Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Chidgey (Liberal Democrat). It was answered by Lord Howell of Guildford (Conservative) on Tuesday, 13 March 2012.

Syria

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for providing humanitarian aid and security assistance to help relieve the unfolding crisis in Syria.

Answer: My Lords, we continue to fund humanitarian organisations working in the region to provide help to those in need and have already given £2 million to that effect. We have also increased core funding significantly to humanitarian agencies this year to cover their ongoing work. The stabilisation unit operated jointly by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence is looking at what future support Syria might need from the UK and the international community to make a political transition to an open, democratic and stable state. It has also organised the recent deployment of an expert team to the region to collect evidence of human rights violations and atrocities committed by the Syrian regime.

Secondary information