The UK meets its promise to resettle 1,000 refugees before Christmas

During the Kosovo crisis in 1999 I saw at first hand the tens of thousands of Kosovar Albanian refugees seeking shelter in neighbouring countries. It showed me the utter misery of being a refugee, fleeing for your life, with your barest possessions, struggling to look after your loved ones, facing uncertainty and vulnerability.

Those memories returned while watching the human tragedy of the many thousands of refugees attempting to reach Europe during 2015. More than 820,000 have crossed the Mediterranean this year, many of them fleeing the conflict in Syria.

The EU has been working hard to respond to this crisis. And the UK aims to resettle 20,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees over the next five years.

We have just delivered on the first stage of that promise: 1,000 Syrian refugees have now reached the UK. The government has provided funding so that they all receive housing, healthcare, education. British local authorities have been working hard to make this happen. It has been a genuine collective effort.

The UK has committed another £100m funding for refugee camps on Syria’s borders. This brings our total contribution to the Syrian crisis to more than £1.12bn – the largest ever UK response to a humanitarian crisis.

But we need more than money to address this crisis. This is why the British government has stressed the need to deal with the root causes, not just respond to the consequences.

We had some good news on this front from New York last week. UNSCR 2254 set out the clear commitment of the international community to work to end the bloody civil war in Syria. This important Security Council Resolution asks the UN to convene the Syrian government and opposition in January to engage in formal negotiations on a transition process. It also expresses support for a Syrian-led political process which, within 6 months, establishes credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance. It looks ahead to a schedule for drafting a new constitution, leading to free and fair elections to be held within 18 months and supervised by the UN, with the Syrian diaspora eligible to participate.

The Resolution goes on to express support for a nationwide ceasefire to come into effect as soon as the Syrian government and opposition have begun initial steps on a political transition. It also calls for the parties to take steps to improve the humanitarian situation and demands an immediate end to attacks against civilians, including through the use of indiscriminate weapons.

So UNSCR 2254 is also good news for the refugees who have fled Syria. And it hopefully brings them a step closer to the day when they will have the choice of being able to return home, and of living there safely.