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The Syrian Refugee Crisis: Socio-economic impact and humanitarian aid
November 03, 20157:00 p.m.
MADRID
Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62).
7:00 p.m.
Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
In Spanish, with simultaneous translation into English.
UNRWA representatives in Syria, Acción contra el Hambre and Save the
Children analyze the regional dimension of the refugee crisis, as well
as the impact on neighboring countries.
Casa Árabe and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), with the cooperation of Acción contra el Hambre and Save the Children, have organized a round table discussion titled “The Regional Dimension of the Syrian Refugee Crisis (I): Socio-economic impact and humanitarian aid.”
The objective is to analyze and make evident the regional dimension of the refugee crisis caused by the Syrian conflict, as well as the socio-economic impact it is having on the neighboring countries.
It will include interventions by Michael Kingsley-Nyinah, director of the UNRWA office in Syria; Jean-Raphäel Poitou, geographic director for the Middle East at Acción contra el Hambre; David del Campo, director of International Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid at Save the Children, and a representative of Doctors Without Borders (pending confirmation). The debate will be moderated by Carla Fibla.
This round table discussion is the first in a series of two meetings organized by Casa Árabe to discuss the regional dimension of the refugee crisis in Syria. The second conference will be held on November 18 and will cover the response to and management of the crisis by neighboring countries. Participating in the conference are persons with responsibility from Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, as well as the Spanish International Cooperation and Development Agency.
The refugee crisis in Europe, which has received 512,909 asylum applications by Syrian refugees since 2011 (46% of them in Germany and Serbia, 38% in Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Holland and Bulgaria) and the horror and mortal victims amongst Syrian refugees attempting to cross the border into European countries have finally brought the matter to the forefront in the media and public opinion inside the European Union. However, the neighboring countries have been living through this reality for over four years already, and the situation is now reaching catastrophic dimensions, above all due to the rise in violence in certain parts of Syria and the arrival of winter.
According to the latest figures provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a total of 4,180,631 refugees have been displaced from Syria to its neighboring countries, in addition to the more than 7.6 million refugees displaced within the country itself. 38.3% of these refugees, or in other words, over one and a half million, are under the age of 11.
As of the beginning of the conflict, but especially throughout 2013 and this year, the neighboring countries have had to take in an increasingly large number of refugees arriving from Syria. Turkey is now home to 2,072,290 registered Syrian refugees, whereas Lebanon, a small country that had a population of 4.4 million inhabitants when the war broke out, is now the second recipient, with 1,078,338 refugees at present. Jordan has taken in a further 629,627, Iraq 245,585 and Egypt 128,019 Syrian refugees, with another 26,700 registered in the rest of North Africa. To this one must add the long-term refugees from other countries who had already settled in Syria in recent years, including Palestinian and Iraqi refugees, who have been caught up in the conflict and displaced yet again to other countries or forced to return to Iraq, where the situation is not easy either. The Palestinian refugee population in Syria is amongst the most vulnerable in the country. UNRWA calculates that more than 50% of the refugee population in Palestine has been internally displaced at least once, and 95% need constant humanitarian aid.
See this information on the UNRWA website
The objective is to analyze and make evident the regional dimension of the refugee crisis caused by the Syrian conflict, as well as the socio-economic impact it is having on the neighboring countries.
It will include interventions by Michael Kingsley-Nyinah, director of the UNRWA office in Syria; Jean-Raphäel Poitou, geographic director for the Middle East at Acción contra el Hambre; David del Campo, director of International Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid at Save the Children, and a representative of Doctors Without Borders (pending confirmation). The debate will be moderated by Carla Fibla.
This round table discussion is the first in a series of two meetings organized by Casa Árabe to discuss the regional dimension of the refugee crisis in Syria. The second conference will be held on November 18 and will cover the response to and management of the crisis by neighboring countries. Participating in the conference are persons with responsibility from Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, as well as the Spanish International Cooperation and Development Agency.
The refugee crisis in Europe, which has received 512,909 asylum applications by Syrian refugees since 2011 (46% of them in Germany and Serbia, 38% in Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Holland and Bulgaria) and the horror and mortal victims amongst Syrian refugees attempting to cross the border into European countries have finally brought the matter to the forefront in the media and public opinion inside the European Union. However, the neighboring countries have been living through this reality for over four years already, and the situation is now reaching catastrophic dimensions, above all due to the rise in violence in certain parts of Syria and the arrival of winter.
According to the latest figures provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a total of 4,180,631 refugees have been displaced from Syria to its neighboring countries, in addition to the more than 7.6 million refugees displaced within the country itself. 38.3% of these refugees, or in other words, over one and a half million, are under the age of 11.
As of the beginning of the conflict, but especially throughout 2013 and this year, the neighboring countries have had to take in an increasingly large number of refugees arriving from Syria. Turkey is now home to 2,072,290 registered Syrian refugees, whereas Lebanon, a small country that had a population of 4.4 million inhabitants when the war broke out, is now the second recipient, with 1,078,338 refugees at present. Jordan has taken in a further 629,627, Iraq 245,585 and Egypt 128,019 Syrian refugees, with another 26,700 registered in the rest of North Africa. To this one must add the long-term refugees from other countries who had already settled in Syria in recent years, including Palestinian and Iraqi refugees, who have been caught up in the conflict and displaced yet again to other countries or forced to return to Iraq, where the situation is not easy either. The Palestinian refugee population in Syria is amongst the most vulnerable in the country. UNRWA calculates that more than 50% of the refugee population in Palestine has been internally displaced at least once, and 95% need constant humanitarian aid.
See this information on the UNRWA website
Photo: UNRWA Spain
Michael Kingsley-Nyinah
Kingsley-Nyinah has formed part of the UN’s humanitarian system for more than 24 years, working for the UNHCR and UNRWA in Somalia, Bosnia, Indonesia, Malawi, Gaza, Jordan, Syria and others. He started off at UNRWA in 2004 as Assistant to the Director of Operations in Gaza and then became the Staff Manager in 2006, and Assistant to the Commissioner General in managing the Agency in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. He was named the Director of UNRWA in Syria in 2012. In his current position, he manages the largest UN humanitarian aid operation in Syria, which includes 4,000 employees and over 100 facilities in Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama and Latakia.
Jean Raphaël Poitou
Mr. Poitou has worked in international cooperation for more than ten years and five years in the private sector. He has lived in Panama, the US, England, Vietnam and Afghanistan, and he has worked with organizations such as Afrane, Handicap International and Acción contra el Hambre. Since January 2011, he has been the Geographic Director for the Middle East at Acción contra el Hambre-Spain. He designs and oversees the strategy for intervention in these countries, as well as the projects carried out by the organization for nearly four million people. He regularly travels to Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
David del Campo
Mr. del Campo is the director of International Cooperation and Humanitarian Action at Save the Children, through which he coordinates the organization’s goals to defend the rights of children in developing countries. He has 15 years of experience in Spanish and European public institutions and is a specialist in crisis communication, international negotiations and legislative developments. He has also been the Cabinet Director of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.
Carla Fibla
Ms. Fibla has lived in the Arab world for more than 15 years. She began her career as a journalist in Cairo in June 1995, where she worked freelancing for various written media. In 2001, she created a regional correspondent’s office in the Maghreb, based in Rabat, Morocco, from which she covered Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania for Cadena SER and La Vanguardia. From 2008 to 2013, she moved to Amman, Jordan to open a new correspondent’s office, which covered 14 Arab countries for Cadena SER. She has collaborated with Ctxt, El Estado Mental, Ahora, RNW, Dutch Public Radio, Radio France International, the journal Afkar-Ideas by the European Institute of the Mediterranean and the portal Fronterad. She has written several books of essays and interviews. The most recent was: “Resistiendo en Gaza. Historias palestinas” (“Resisting in Gaza: Palestinian stories,” Península, 2010). At present, she is working with non-governmental organizations and Euronews.
Kingsley-Nyinah has formed part of the UN’s humanitarian system for more than 24 years, working for the UNHCR and UNRWA in Somalia, Bosnia, Indonesia, Malawi, Gaza, Jordan, Syria and others. He started off at UNRWA in 2004 as Assistant to the Director of Operations in Gaza and then became the Staff Manager in 2006, and Assistant to the Commissioner General in managing the Agency in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. He was named the Director of UNRWA in Syria in 2012. In his current position, he manages the largest UN humanitarian aid operation in Syria, which includes 4,000 employees and over 100 facilities in Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama and Latakia.
Jean Raphaël Poitou
Mr. Poitou has worked in international cooperation for more than ten years and five years in the private sector. He has lived in Panama, the US, England, Vietnam and Afghanistan, and he has worked with organizations such as Afrane, Handicap International and Acción contra el Hambre. Since January 2011, he has been the Geographic Director for the Middle East at Acción contra el Hambre-Spain. He designs and oversees the strategy for intervention in these countries, as well as the projects carried out by the organization for nearly four million people. He regularly travels to Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
David del Campo
Mr. del Campo is the director of International Cooperation and Humanitarian Action at Save the Children, through which he coordinates the organization’s goals to defend the rights of children in developing countries. He has 15 years of experience in Spanish and European public institutions and is a specialist in crisis communication, international negotiations and legislative developments. He has also been the Cabinet Director of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.
Carla Fibla
Ms. Fibla has lived in the Arab world for more than 15 years. She began her career as a journalist in Cairo in June 1995, where she worked freelancing for various written media. In 2001, she created a regional correspondent’s office in the Maghreb, based in Rabat, Morocco, from which she covered Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania for Cadena SER and La Vanguardia. From 2008 to 2013, she moved to Amman, Jordan to open a new correspondent’s office, which covered 14 Arab countries for Cadena SER. She has collaborated with Ctxt, El Estado Mental, Ahora, RNW, Dutch Public Radio, Radio France International, the journal Afkar-Ideas by the European Institute of the Mediterranean and the portal Fronterad. She has written several books of essays and interviews. The most recent was: “Resistiendo en Gaza. Historias palestinas” (“Resisting in Gaza: Palestinian stories,” Península, 2010). At present, she is working with non-governmental organizations and Euronews.
Casa Árabe | UNRWA
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