Owing to the Syrian conflict, at least 100,000 persons are missing; most at the hands of the Syrian regime. The UK is a member of the core group of UN Member States which advanced the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly. We continue to encourage all States to co-operate with the new Institution to maximise its effectiveness.

We are engaging the UN as they bring forward more details on the establishment of the Institution. Based on this, we will consider what additional assistance we can provide. The UK will contribute to the financial budget via our standing UN contributions.

The UK's Special Representative for Syria, Ann Snow, represented the Government at the Brussels conference. We pledged up to £150 million to support Syria and the region, in addition to the £43 million we committed to support those affected by February's earthquakes. The UK is the third largest bilateral donor to the Syria crisis. The funding will enable around 65,000 Syrians per year to be less dependent on emergency aid through receiving livelihoods support, provide access to high-quality primary education in Northwest Syria and continue to support Syria's neighbours to deal with the impact of the conflict, helping mitigate the significant challenges they face and ensuring Syrian refugees are protected.

Engaging Bashar al-Assad in the absence of any evidence that his regime will change its behaviour will not help Syrians or the region. We therefore do not support Syria's readmission to the Arab League in current circumstances. Ahead of the decision to re-admit Syria to the Arab League we encouraged Arab states to set firm conditions on refugee return, detainee release and justice reform. We continue to encourage our Arab partners that their further engagement is staggered and supportive of the conditions set out in UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2254. The Foreign Secretary has stated that the UK is disappointed with Syria's readmission to the Arab League; ultimately, however, decisions on membership are for League members.

Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Daesh are both proscribed by the UK Government under the Terrorism Act 2000. We are closely monitoring the security situation in north west Syria, including the actions of Daesh and maintain a regular dialogue with our international counterparts. The UK is a leading member of the Global Coalition and we are committed to making sure they cannot resurge in the region.

We are working closely with the UN, international and NGO partners, and with the Turkish authorities in Turkey, on how best to mobilise UK humanitarian support in Turkey and Syria following the earthquake.

The UN has been clear that for assistance to reach those most in need in north west Syria, it is imperative that more aid can be delivered across the border via Turkey.

The UK strongly supports the reopening of additional border crossings between Turkey and north west Syria, as we have repeatedly called for in the UN Security Council, which would improve aid access.

The UK recognises Turkey's legitimate security interests in Syria and Iraq and is closely monitoring the situation. It is important that the risks to civilians and to the security and stability of the region are minimised. FCDO Ministers and senior officials engage with Turkey regularly on issues of regional security. The Foreign Secretary last met Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on 30 November.

The UK welcomes refugees and people in need of protection through its existing resettlement schemes. The government encourages eligible individuals to use established safe and legal pathways. These include the UK Resettlement Scheme, Community Sponsorship, Mandate Resettlement Scheme, the Afghanistan Citizens Resettlement Scheme and the Afghanistan Relocations and Assistance Policy.

In addition to our refugee resettlement schemes, family reunion policy allows a spouse/partner and children under 18 of those granted protection in the UK to join them here if they formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country.

With worldwide displacement now standing at around 80 million people we cannot help everyone. We will, however, continue to maintain clear, well-defined safe, and legal routes for people who need protection. Access to the UK’s asylum system should be based on need, not on the ability to pay people smugglers. Those already in a safe country should claim asylum there.

While we do not allow asylum claims from abroad, all asylum claims lodged from within the UK and admitted to the UK asylum system are given full and careful consideration so that we do not remove anyone who faces persecution or serious harm on return to their country of origin.

Our guidance for considering asylum claims is available on GOV.UK.

More information on safe and legal routes is available via the link below:

Nationality and Borders Bill: Factsheet Safe and Legal Routes - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

In north east Syria we assess that the ceasefire is broadly holding. We regularly engage with actors on the ground and urge all parties to continue adherence to ceasefire agreements and international law. We also remain committed to the Global Coalition Against Daesh and at the most recent ministerial meeting in Rome on 28 June 2021, the UK announced £2.6 million of new funding to help prevent violent extremism in the north east, in support of the Coalition's Stabilisation Pledge. Further, we continue to support the delivery of aid through all modalities, and to date, we have committed over £3.7 billion in response to the Syria Crisis, our largest ever humanitarian response.

This latest UN report from the Commission of Inquiry shows further confirmation of a decade of appalling atrocities in Syria and is a shocking reminder of why Syria remains one of the worst human rights crises in the world.

The UK has repeatedly condemned a number of issues raised in the report, including the use of illegal detention by the Asad regime, affiliated militias and proscribed terrorist organisations. We have raised the plight of detainees at the UN Security Council, most recently during our national statement on 15 March and through our leadership at the Human Rights Council, where this month we are hosting a side event to discuss next steps for accountability. We will also shortly complete an information sharing agreement with the International, Independent and Impartial Mechanism for Syria (IIIM) to strengthen accountability for international crimes and human rights abuses committed in Syria.

UN Envoy Geir Pedersen has described a 'fragile calm' in Syria that could break down at any moment. The UK welcomes Turkey's efforts to uphold the ceasefire in Idlib and prevent a further regime offensive. We urge all parties to adhere to agreed ceasefires and their obligations under international law. We also fully support Geir Pedersen's efforts towards a political solution to the conflict in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254. Tackling the humanitarian impact of the Syria crisis remains a priority for the UK as the Assad regime's policies devastate the Syrian economy and deny aid to the most vulnerable. We continue to use our position at the UN Security Council to push for greater aid access into Syria and we remain committed to supporting aid delivery, through all mechanisms, to those in need.

Refugees and other forcibly displaced people are amongst the most vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 1.2 million people in Idlib live in overcrowded camps and unable to practice social distancing or access proper healthcare or shelter.

The UK has pledged at least £300 million to the Syria Crisis for 2020, to support refugees and host communities in the region as well as humanitarian needs in Syria, including specific activities to help tackle Coronavirus in North West Syria. Funding through UN and INGO partners has already provided over 375,000 IDPs daily access to 35 litres of clean water, access to safe sanitation across 38 camps and distributed over 23,000 family hygiene kits. Our funding also includes cash assistance for refugees and IDPs. The UK is monitoring the situation in Idlib and across the whole of Syria closely, working with the UN and our humanitarian partners to respond to the outbreak and to sustain life-saving services.

The UK Government is clear that those individuals who have fought for, or supported Daesh, whatever their nationality, should face justice through a fair trial in the most appropriate jurisdiction. Any decision in relation to the continued detention, transfer or prosecution of detainees is ultimately a matter for authorities under whose jurisdiction the individuals are detained. The UK will continue to work with international partners, as well as partners in the region in seeking to secure the prosecution of individuals who have committed crimes in the name of Daesh. Any such justice mechanism must respect human rights and the rule of law, as well as ensure fair trials and due process.

We assess that Amnesty International's report provides useful further evidence of unlawful attacks by the Assad regime and Russia on civilian targets in Idlib. It therefore complements recent reports by the UN Commission of Inquiry and the UN Board of Inquiry. It is inexcusable that hospitals have been attacked despite their coordinates being provided to Russia and others by the UN deconfliction mechanism. The UK continues to call for accountability for these crimes and for all parties, including the Assad regime and Russia, to respect the ceasefire in Idlib and to abide by International Humanitarian Law. We also continue to support those displaced by the recent offensive, as documented in the Amnesty International report.

There are immense humanitarian needs in North West Syria, including Idlib province; these are further increased by COVID-19. Of almost 1 million people displaced in North West Syria since 1 December 2019, some 135,000 people have returned to their areas of origin or previous displacement. The most urgent needs continue to be shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene, food, and protection.

To date, there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in North West Syria. We assess that secondary effects of the pandemic will intensify needs and hinder response efforts. The UN’s response plan in the North West is now estimated at $162 million, with efforts focusing on preparedness and planning to minimise the potential impact of the virus on communities in addition to the existing crisis response. The World Health Organisation has warned of an impending ‘explosion’ of cases in Syria and we expect a significant outbreak that will be difficult for the health system to manage after years of conflict. Some of the highest risks are in IDP camps and conflict areas, including Idlib province.

The UK is monitoring the situation closely and DFID is working with the UN and our humanitarian partners in Syria to ensure we are able to actively respond to the outbreak and sustain life-saving services during this pandemic.

We are actively pressing for an immediate and lasting ceasefire to the crisis in Idlib. The Foreign Secretary discussed Idlib with the US Secretary of State Pompeo on 1 March and travelled to Turkey on 3-4 March to support Turkish efforts to achieve a cessation of hostilities. We have repeatedly raised the issue at the UN Security Council and called for an emergency Council session to discuss the urgent situation in Idlib on 28 February. We have also made clear the urgent need for a ceasefire in our contacts with the Russian Government.

We are gravely concerned about escalating Syrian Regime and Russian military action and its humanitarian impact in Idlib. As of 6 February, the UN reports that 586,000 people have been displaced since 1 December 2019, and many more are at risk of imminent further displacement. This financial year DFID has already allocated £103 million to organisations delivering aid cross border from Turkey primarily into North West Syria, including Idlib. This has helped to provide hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people with food, clean water, shelter, and healthcare including psychosocial support.

Given the rapidly deteriorating conditions in North West Syria, we have put options in place to increase our funding further to address the pressing needs of those displaced by the conflict. We have provided funding to response partners including the UN to preposition essential supplies to support innocent families and civilians displaced by conflict and we are supporting all our partners to respond to this humanitarian crisis. The Minister for the Middle East and North Africa visited Turkey on 5-6 February and discussed the crisis in North West Syria with UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs, as well as with Turkish authorities. DFID partners on the ground are working tirelessly to provide aid to those affected by the military offensive.

We remain concerned at the risk of Daesh resurgence in parts of Syria and Iraq. We have been clear that, despite their loss of territory, Daesh still pose a threat to the security of both countries, and the region. For this reason we continue to work with the Global Coalition and our partners to tackle Daesh in Syria and Iraq and to prevent Daesh fighters from travelling from there to other countries. We have close and frequent dialogue with the Jordanian government on regional security issues, both bilaterally and as part of the Global Coalition Against Daesh and Small Group on Syria.

As part of our humanitarian response to the Syrian conflict, the Department for International Development is funding UN and NGO partners to provide vital humanitarian assistance to people in need in Idlib, including healthcare. Our support in Idlib governorate alone has meant that approximately 500,000 people received medical consultations between January and June 2018.

The government gives the utmost priority to protecting UK citizens, and safeguarding our national security. As yet, the powers at section 4 of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 have not been used, and there are currently no designated areas. If, in future, any area within Syria or elsewhere is designated, the Act provides clear exemptions from the offence of entering or remaining in a designated area for any person who does so for the purpose of providing aid of a humanitarian nature, or who is acting on behalf of or holding office under the Crown. This means that, even in areas where a designated area offence might be in place, the UK will continue to be able to deliver the highest standards of lifesaving humanitarian support.