On the migration and refugee crisis G20 leaders agreed on the need for global efforts to address the effects, protection needs and root causes of the crisis. They called for strengthening humanitarian assistance and refugee resettlement. At the press conference before the summit President Tusk stated that “In light of an unprecedented number of 65 million displaced people all over the world, the G20 community needs to scale up its share of responsibility. Only global efforts supporting refugees and their host communities will be able to bear fruit.”

On the fight against terrorism, leaders reaffirmed their solidarity and resolve and their commitment to tackle terrorist financing.

The summit also highlighted the importance of joining the Paris Agreement on climate change as soon as possible. Before the summit President Tusk recalled that “The G20 has an important role to play in this global struggle. With major emitters around the table we need to make sure that our common priority is to implement the Paris agreement early and in a robust manner. The EU is fully committed to this goal and we want to encourage all G20 members to do the same. ”

In the margins of the summit, Presidents Tusk and Juncker met with Recep Erdoğan, President of Turkey, to discuss EU-Turkey relations and continued cooperation on migration.

Photo: EU Newsroom / From left to right: Mr Jean-Claude JUNCKER, President of the European Commission; Mr Donald TUSK, President of the European Council; Mr Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN, Turkish President.

Last Friday, two Palestinian men were hanged in public on Palestine Street in Yarmouk, a suburb in the south of Damascus city.

“UNRWA is shocked and distressed by these killings and the manner in which they were carried out,” the UN agency said in a statement.

“International humanitarian law applies to all parties to the conflict in Syria and extra-judicial killings are in violation of that law. UNRWA particularly deplores the increased levels of fear and trauma these deaths will generate among Palestine refugees across Syria.”

Prior to the Syria conflict, Yarmouk and its neighboring areas were home to over 150,000 Palestine refugees living alongside approximately one million Syrians.

“UNRWA recalls assurances from the Government of Syria to respect the neutrality of Palestine refugee camps. UNRWA calls on the Government of Syria to fulfil these assurances and to avoid conducting armed conflict in residential areas, including in Palestine refugee camps,” the agency said.

Despite repeated statements from Palestinian officials that Syria camps are neutral in the internal conflict, Palestinians have been adversely affected by fighting in the two year conflict.

“In December 2012, intense fighting triggered large scale displacement of Palestinians and Syrians living in Yarmouk. Since then, armed opposition groups have maintained a presence in residential areas, with government forces positioned at the northern entrance of Yarmouk,” UNRWA said.

At least 20,000 Palestinian refugees have fled to Lebanon and endure difficult conditions, with limited access to basic services and cramped housing, according to Maan news agency.

The Action Group for Palestinians of Syria said this week that around 1,038 Palestinians have been killed during the Syrian conflict, which has claimed the lives of around 70,000 people.

“These include ensuring access to territory, access to asylum procedures, harmonized approaches to the adjudication of asylum claims and mutual support between member states,” UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said in Geneva. “There is an opportunity for the EU to put its commitment to solidarity into practice,” he added.

European Union countries, together with Norway and Switzerland, received 16,474 asylum applications from Syrians between January 2011 and August 2012, according to European Commission figures. Germany received 5,515, Sweden had 2,506, followed by Switzerland (1,405), Austria (972), the United Kingdom (912), Denmark (908) and Belgium (796). The numbers in other member states were considerably lower.

While most EU member states are processing claims and granting protection to Syrians, approaches to interpreting protection criteria and the type of status and entitlements granted vary considerably. “In Greece, for example, the asylum-system fails to meet the protection needs of many refugees,” Edwards noted.

In some countries on the eastern border of the EU, rejection rates are more than 50 per cent. In addition, some countries are more likely to give Syrians a tolerated stay rather than actual protection. “There is therefore a risk that people in need of protection will be denied the rights to which they are entitled under EU or international law and will be compelled to move on, usually to other EU states,” the UNHCR spokesman said.

Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey continue to host the overwhelming majority of refugees – now numbering more than 340,000 Syrians who have either formally registered as refugees or are being assisted. Arrivals of asylum-seekers from Syria in the EU have been relatively small, with less than 20,000 Syrian asylum claims filed in the past 18 months.

“With the crisis continuing, contingency planning at national level for new arrivals should take place,” Edwards said. “At EU level, there must also be readiness to consider applying the Temporary Protection Directive and other appropriate responses, if the conditions demand it. As always, it is important that the right to seek asylum is upheld at all times,” he added.

The European Union and its member states are among the largest contributors to the Syria Regional Response Plan, which represents the combined planning of 52 UN agencies and NGOs who are supporting Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey. This plan was recently updated with an appeal figure of US$487.9 million. It is currently 29 per cent funded.

The EU has provided more than 8 million euros to the regional response plan to date, and is considering further contributions. Individual EU member states have also offered welcome financial support. “However, further funding is and will be required to meet the pressing humanitarian needs of displaced people,” Edwards stressed.

“Movement is still restricted in parts of Rakhine state, preventing some villagers from going to work, accessing markets, food supplies, health services and education,” a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Adrian Edwards, told reporters in Geneva. “Out of desperation, people are leaving villages to seek food and medical assistance at the IDP camps.”

In June, violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the state of Rakhine, located in western Myanmar, led to the country’s Government declaring a state of emergency there.

The figure of 75,000 people in need of humanitarian aid, provided by local authorities, is an increase on initial Government estimates of some 50,000 people displaced shortly after the unrest broke out in early June, according to UNHCR. It added that a resurgence of violence in early August resulted in more than 4,000 people having their homes burned down, affecting thousands more.

The refugee agency, along with its humanitarian partners, has been advocating for greater humanitarian access and support for the most affected villages, including the towns of Sittwe, Kyauk Taw and Maungdaw.

“We hope that by delivering aid in places of origin, humanitarian agencies can help to prevent further displacement and make interventions that can facilitate the eventual return of IDPs,” Edwards said.

UNHCR is distributing relief supplies for some 54,000 people in IDP sites. The supplies include plastic sheets, sleeping mats, blankets, mosquito nets and kitchen sets.

The agency is also supporting the construction of emergency temporary shelters that can house about 10,500 people, and continues to support delivery of basic assistance such as food, water and sanitation to Government-run IDP camps until the situation stabilizes sufficiently for them to return home.

Edwards added that despite the rising numbers of IDPs, some people whose houses were not damaged have returned to the town of Sittwe. He added that a “fragile calm” has returned, but the situation remains tense.