Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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318. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will encourage the EU to have member states increase resettlement and family reunification places for Syrian refugees based in Lebanon; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5328/21]

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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332. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the actions he is taking to insist the European Union and the United States of America increase resettlement and family reunification of Syrian refugees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5677/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 318 and 332 together.

Syria is one of the worst humanitarian crises of the twenty first Century. Within Syria itself, more than 11 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, while over five million Syrians are refugees, mainly in neighbouring countries.

At the most recent meeting of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Executive Committee in October 2020, I reasserted Ireland's continued commitment to resettlement as a vital protection tool and an expression of solidarity to these populations in need.

In total over 3,000 persons with Syrian nationality have begun new lives in Ireland under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP).

In December 2019, the Government committed to welcoming a further 2900 refugees between 2020 and 2023 through a combination of community sponsorship and resettlement, with a focus on Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon.

Ireland also supports resettlement and family reunification through core funding to UNHCR and International Organisation for Migration. The IOM is the leading inter-governmental organisation in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners. Ireland is one of a small group of countries which provides unearmarked core funding support to IOM, giving the Organisation the flexibility to operate where needs are greatest. Our support increased to €1 million in 2020.

Ireland fully supports the efforts of the efforts of the UNHCR which is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees worldwide and safeguard their rights and well-being. Ireland’s contributions to UNHCR for 2020 were over €18.5 million, which includes unearmarked core funding of €9 million, as well as crisis specific responses including the Syria crisis.

Ireland also welcomes any action by the EU or the United States of America to support resettlement and family reunification. Since 2017, more than 40 per cent of refugees resettled through the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have found new homes in Europe. At the Global Refugee Forum in December 2019, EU countries pledged a total of 30,000 resettlement places for 2020. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the practical challenges it has posed for resettlement, the European Commission’s new Pact on Migration and Asylum, released in September 2020, proposes to extend both the EU target quota of 30,000 as well as the ad hoc pledges Member States made for 2020 into 2021.