SYRIA: Minister criticizes lack of international refugee support

Syria's minister of health said providing free medical care to the over 1.5 million Iraqi refugees in Syria is costing the country around $60 million a year, a burden he criticized the international community for failing to take responsibility for. "It was the duty of the international community to take the initiative long before now to stop the suffering of our Iraqi brothers," said Maher Housami, speaking on July 30 at the end of a two-day conference in Damascus organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) to address the health crisis among Iraqi refugees' displaced by the four-year-old US-led invasion. The WHO conference, attended by the health ministers of Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, as well as WHO and UN officials, met to discuss Iraqi refugees' access to health care in Syria and the need to formulate a plan to counter the strain being placed on the national health system. Housami expressed his disappointment that the US had not provided countries in the region, particularly Syria and Jordan -- who between them currently shelter an estimated 2.25 million Iraqi refugees -- with greater financial support. The Syrian government provides Iraqi refugees with free education and health care, but the massive influx of people -- estimated at around 40,000 per month -- means hospitals and clinics are often too overcrowded to treat refugees. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) provided funds for medical needs, including a $2.06 million contribution to the Ministry of Health for the rehabilitation of hospitals, in a deal signed last May. The agency is also involved in a project to launch a new hospital in October staffed by and catering for Iraqis. However, at a similar international conference in Amman last week aimed at easing the burden of countries hosting large numbers of Iraqi refugees, Housami said Syria had received only $1 million out of the $2 million agreed upon from the UNHCR. Syria had been able to face the challenge for the past three years, said Housami in Amman, but "the suffering has surfaced now and Syria is no longer capable of enduring this burden." Radhouane Nouicer, UNHCR regional director for Middle East and North Africa, said the UNHCR had allocated some $40 million out of its 2008 budget for Iraqis' health needs in host countries, and warned that the refugees had overburdened the host countries. "Great problems lie ahead of us," said WHO regional director Hussein Gezairy. "We cannot eliminate these problems but we can reduce the suffering." Among the issues discussed at the conference was the urgent need to provide immunizations for Iraqi children to prevent the spread of disease.