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Denmark donates 250 million kroner to Syria

The Local Denmark
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Denmark donates 250 million kroner to Syria
Denmark has donated 250 million Danish kroner for 2015 to the victims of the Syrian conflict. It is estimated that some 18 million people have been affected by the conflict. Photo: SyriaFreedom/Flickr

At an international donor conference for Syria held in Kuwait this week, Denmark has committed another 250 million Danish kroner for 2015 to the victims of the war-torn country. This brings Denmark’s total aid to Syria to more than 1 billion Danish kroner, according to the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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Denmark has been among the world’s largest donors to the victims of the conflict in Syria ever since the war started four years ago. This week Denmark announced that in 2015, it will donate another 250 million Danish kroner to the victims of the Syrian conflict.

This is 50 million Danish kroner more than what Denmark granted the Syrian victims in 2014, according to the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“It is with a mixture of pride and sadness, that I announce the Danish commitment. Pride because it stresses that Denmark is a humanitarian superpower and bears witness to our solidarity with people living in some of the most miserable conditions in the world. And sadness because it, in spite of the large amount of money, is not enough to cover the extent of the humanitarian needs in Syria,” the Danish Minister for Trade and Development, Mogens Jensen, said.

Syria: 18 million people in need

The ministry calls it a “record-high commitment.” Denmark’s total humanitarian assistance to Syria now stands at over 1 billion Danish kroner since the crisis began. In his speech at the conference, Mogens Jensen calls on other rich countries to also provide support to the around 18 million people in need in Syria and in neighbouring countries. Lebanon and Jordan have the highest number of refugees per capita in the world, according to the ministry.

“I want to send a clear signal to all countries to help lifting this important task,” Jensen says.

The Danish commitment includes the 90 million Danish kroner that were announced earlier in March. Of these, 50 million Danish kroner went to Danish humanitarian organizations that are present in Syria or work through local partners, while the remaining 40 million Danish kroner went to the World Food Programme (15 million Danish kroner), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (15 million Danish kroner) and the United Nations Population Fund (10 million Danish kroner).

200,000 dead

According to the BBC, more than 200,000 Syrians have lost their lives in the conflict that in March this year had lasted for four years.

“More than 11 million others have been forced from their homes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other – as well as jihadist militants from Islamic State,” according to the BBC.

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