To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to air-dropping relief supplies to the besieged population of Deir Ezzor.
Answered on
8 February 2016
The "Supporting Syria and the Region London 2016)" Conference was held on 4 February last week, and more than US$11 billion was pledged to support people in Syria and the region affected by the conflict, the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. Commitments made at the Conference will help to create 1.1 million jobs and provide education to an additional 1 million children. The UK remains at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. We have doubled our commitment and have now pledged a total of over £2.3 billion, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis.
By the end of June 2015, UK support inside Syria and in the surrounding region had, for example, delivered almost 20 million food rations that feed one person for a month; over 2.5 million medical consultations; and relief items for 4.6 million people. We have provided ongoing support to the UN and international NGOs (INGOs) since the start of the conflict to deliver aid in hard to reach and besieged areas of Syria.
When it comes to helping Syrians in besieged and hard-to-reach areas, we do not rule anything out but, right now, air drops are not a viable way of getting help to those in need.
Use of air drops to deliver aid is high risk and should only be considered as a last resort when all other means have failed. Air drops require certain conditions to be met for successful delivery that are unlikely to be present on the ground in Syria. There is a requirement to identify clear drop zones, ensure safe access for the intended recipients, and to co-ordinate with authorities on the ground. Crucially, air drops do not provide the sustained access that humanitarian actors normally need to conduct needs assessments, oversee distribution, provide medical treatment and conduct evacuations. They are also limited in capability: for example, water cannot be dropped on the scale required and there is no way of ensuring items dropped will reach the most vulnerable.
Instead, the UN, the Red Cross Movement and NGO partners are best placed to deliver aid to vulnerable people in besieged and hard to reach areas.
We will not stop in our efforts, whether through hard work on a political solution that will deal with the root cause of the problem or through humanitarian efforts, which provide immediate, life-saving relief. This shocking situation underlines the vital work of aid agencies and shows how important it is that they have the assurance of knowing that they have the resources to keep going. It also underlines the importance of February’s Supporting Syria and the Region conference in London, which we will co-host.