Isle of Man support to Syrian Refugees

Since the outbreak of fighting in Syria in 2011, 55% of Syrian’s have been forced to flee their homes. 5.5 million people have fled into neighbouring countries, and a further 6 million are internally displaced within Syria.

Both the previous Administration and this Administration have given detailed consideration to how the Island can provide the most effective support to those Syrian refugees. More information is available on the 2019 Syrian Refugees Note.

This and the previous Administration examined whether the Isle of Man could take Syrian refugees, as part of the UK Government’s Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. The decision to accept and set the criteria under which refugees can be accepted is a matter for the Sovereign State; and as a Crown Dependency the Isle of Man does not have the legal authority or mechanisms to determine its own Scheme for accepting refugees. Therefore the Island is unable to accept refugees by any other means, other than through the UK Scheme.

The Council of Ministers carefully considered whether the Isle of Man had the necessary and essential capability to provide the equality of care available in the UK which is required by refugees to rebuild independent lives. Consideration was given to the ability to provide public housing, social security, healthcare and education to support the most vulnerable refugees. On both occasions the Council of Ministers determined the Isle of Man was not able to participate in the Scheme, as the supporting infrastructure required was not fully in place to meet the specific needs of those vulnerable Syrian refugees, whom the UK is seeking to resettle.

Instead both Administrations agreed the most effective and efficient way for the Island to provide help to the greatest number of refugees, was by directing funds to charities and organisations working in the affected regions, to address the specific needs of the affected population as quickly as possible.

To date the Isle of Man Government has provided nearly £1.7 million to support organisations dealing with the humanitarian crisis caused by the conflict in Syria.

In February 2017 it was agreed by the Council of Ministers that the amount of £973,000.00 was to be sent to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from the International Development fund to help save, protect and rebuild the lives of refugees displaced from their homes in Syria by violence and persecution. A further donation of £200,000.00 was then agreed in March 2019 by the Council of Ministers.

The 2017 UNHCR report explains how funding has been used to help provide a vital lifeline for 30,250 refugees in Jordan and Lebanon.

The UNCHR provided a further progress report on their work in 2018. The funding the Isle of Man has given to the UNHCR to date has now provided vital assistance for over 60,000 Syrian refugees. We have provided over 30,000 refugees with warm winter clothing, over 5,000 with bedding and heating stoves, 2,000 with household items such as mattresses and sleeping mats, over 5,000 with shelter and winter proofing items and 15,000 refugees with cash assistance grants.

UNHCR Representative, Rossella Pagliuchi-Lo commented:

'The UNHCR is grateful to the people and Government of the Isle of Man for their generous grant for refugees affected by the conflict in Syria. Thanks to that support, we have been able to provide Syrian families in Jordan and Lebanon with life-saving assistance. We greatly value our partnership with the Isle of Man and look forward to further collaboration in the future.'

Support to Syrian Refugees

2019/20 breakdown of support provided

Year	Charity	Project	Amount Allocated
2019/20	United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)	Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis	£200,000

2018/19 breakdown of support provided

Year	Charity	Project	Amount Allocated
2018/2019	United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)	Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis	£973,000

2015/16 breakdown of support provided

Year	Charity	Project	Amount Allocated
2015/2016	Catholic Agency For Overseas Development (CAFOD)	Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis	£10,000
2015/2016	UNHCR	Refugee Crisis in Europe	£15,000
2015/2016	British Red Cross	Syrian Refugee Crisis Appeal	£10,000
2015/2016	Christian Aid	Syrian Refugee Crisis Appeal	£10,000
2015/2016	Oxfam	Syrian Refugee Crisis Appeal	£10,000
2015/2016	Save the Children	Syrian Refugee Crisis Appeal	£10,000
2015/2016	RED International	Emergency Food and Winterization Assistance for IDPs and Syrian Refugees in Northern Iraq	£15,000
2015/2016	Goal	Improving food security and resilience of vulnerable Syrians in Southern Turkey with the provision of e-vouchers	£20,000
2015/2016	UNHCR	Mediterranean Refugee Crisis	£50,000

2014/15 breakdown of support provided

Year	Charity	Project	Amount Allocated
2014/2015	UNHCR	Mediterranean Refugee Crisis	£50,000
2014/2015	Oxfam	Inside Syria Emergency Response	£50,000

2013/14 breakdown of support provided

Year	Charity	Project	Amount Allocated
2013/2014	Concern Worldwide	Syria Crisis Response	£50,000
2013/2014	Human Appeal International	Emergency response to early recovery needs of internationally displaced persons (IDPs) affected by conflict in Syria	£50,000
2013/2014	ActionAid UK	The Syrian Refugee Crisis in Lebanon	£25,000
2013/2014	Oxfam	Syrian Refugee Crisis in Jordan	£25,000

2012/13 breakdown of support provided

Year	Charity	Project	Amount Allocated
2012/2013	Mines Advisory Group	Risk education for Syrian refugees in northern Iraq	£20,000
2012/2013	UNICEF	UNICEF's Children's Crisis in Syria and surrounding regions	£30,000
2012/2013	ActionAid	Emergency response to the Syrian refugee crisis	£20,007

2011/12 breakdown of support provided

Year	Charity	Project	Amount Allocated
2011/2012	British Red Cross	Syria Crisis Appeal	£10,000
2011/2012	RED International	Relief for Syrian refugees - Jordanian northern border	£14,410
2011/2012	Medair UK	Emergency Project Supporting Vulnerable Syrian Refugees in Jordan	£16,748.78