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ASSISTANT SECRETARY RICHARD: Good morning, Chairman Royce, Ranking Members, and Mr. Deutch,
and Members of this committee. Thank you for hosting this hearing today on the humanitarian
crisis inside Syria. I am pleased to be able to appear before the Committee with my colleague,
Ambassador Robert Ford and USAID Assistant Administrator Nancy Lindborg. Our offices
work closely together to provide humanitarian aid to those affected by the violence in Syria.
The two-year anniversary of the Syria uprising coincides with another dark milestone: over
one million refugees have fled Syria. More troubling, half of that number arrived in
the last two months. I would like to share with you the approach the Bureau for Population
Refugees and Migration is taking to address the crisis and how that complements and reinforces
what USAID does.
In my written testimony, I describe how the refugee crisis is affecting the neighboring
countries, and I won't go into those details here, but invite questions from you on the
very different situations we have seen in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq.
Let me just say that we recognize the huge strain that the influx of refugees is currently
placing on host countries. It is essential that neighboring countries continue to keep
their borders open for those refugees fleeing violence in Syria. In every meeting with officials
from these countries, we thank them for allowing refugees to cross and discuss ways to help
them uphold humanitarian principles, while protecting their own security and preventing
a spillover of violence.
The Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration works closely with our colleagues at USAID
and together we lead the U.S. government's humanitarian response. Nancy Lindborg and
I have traveled often to the region, traveled together twice, and on our most recent trip
we were also joined by Ambassador Ford in Turkey, prior to our participation at the
January Kuwait Donors Conference.
The State Department is helping to get as much humanitarian aid as possible to Syria's
conflict victims. We are providing funding to the United Nations, the International Committee
of the Red Cross, and non-governmental organizations. These aid agencies bring technical expertise
and operational capacity to respond to a crisis as large-scale as this. Of the nearly $385
million provided thus far, the State Department's contributions total nearly $185 million and
meet basic humanitarian needs, such as shelter, water, and health both inside Syria and in
host countries. The delivery of assistance is often undertaken at great personal risk.
In recent months, UN convoys have delivered aid to opposition held areas in Syria, where
thousands are in acute need of humanitarian help. Such movements are highly dangerous
Of course, people in need are not concentrated in one area and can be found all around the
shifting battle-lines. Humanitarian organizations provide aid in a neutral and impartial manner.
The United Nations is seeking to get access to all communities in need on a regular basis.
It is unacceptable and a violation of humanitarian principles for the Syrian regime to deny this
access.
I should mention that the fighting has also endangered the lives of Palestinians and Iraqi
refugees who live in Syria. They, too, are caught up in this crisis and have been displaced
or have fled the crisis, fled the country.
I regret to tell you that even as the crisis explodes, the international community is facing
a resource problem. The UN's Regional Response Plan has thus far received only 21% of the
funds it needs to operate for the first half of 2013. Other donors must quickly provide
the funds that agencies need to keep life-saving operations going.
And, even if the Assad regime falls soon, humanitarian aid will likely continue. This
is because of the widespread destruction of Syria's infrastructure and predicted flows
of refugees that would continue to cross borders -- likely in both directions. Needs could
extend into the long-term.
I've got my work cut out for me in terms of convincing other countries to give more, and
setting the record straight about the heroic efforts of aid workers inside Syria and pressing
international aid agencies to do as much as they can, wherever they can. I am encouraging
UN leaders to take on more risks, and push the envelope to get aid into those hard to
access parts of Syria, where the needs are great. And we are formally requesting that
they plan for every conceivable contingency since this crisis has already defied predictions
about its likely scale and scope. We are asking neighboring countries to keep their borders
open despite political tensions and economic burdens within their own countries, to work
with us to ensure international aid reaches the Syrians, and to help us uphold International
standards in order to protect and aid refugees.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, my bureau's primary concerns are providing protection and assistance
to those who have fled the violence. The State Department's overall goal, of course, is a
return of peace and stability to Syria, and to one day see the refugees return home. And
I'll be happy to answer your questions at the appropriate time.