Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The European Commission will provide new humanitarian support for Syrians, both inside Syria and in neighboring countries, with an amount of 235 million euros for 2025. Following the collapse of the previous government in Damascus, the European Union is working at all levels to strengthen the provision of humanitarian aid, including through the launch of humanitarian air bridge flights. According to a European statement issued by the European Commission headquarters in Brussels on Friday, which added, "Today, the Commissioner for Preparedness, Crisis Management and Equality is visiting the beloved city of Syria to confirm the European Union's commitment to providing crucial assistance to civilians. This is the first visit by an EU Commissioner to the country since the fall of the Assad regime.
This new EU funding will provide emergency assistance, including:
Food for malnourished communities across the country.
Medical assistance and essential health services.
Protection of vulnerable populations from violence and exploitation.
Shelter solutions for people displaced by the conflict.
Ensuring access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities.
Distributing cash transfers to support basic needs
Educational support for affected children
The aid is part of the Fund A larger regional humanitarian response supporting vulnerable Syrians and host communities across the region.

Commissioner Lahbib will meet with representatives of the transitional government as well as EU partners and Syrian civil society organisations to discuss urgent humanitarian challenges and needs. She will call for full respect for international humanitarian law and unhindered access to the whole of Syria for humanitarian partners. The Commissioner will also meet with beneficiaries of EU humanitarian aid projects.
Commissioner Lahbib will then continue her visit to the region in Jordan, where she will meet with local authorities as well as the heads of UN agencies and other key humanitarian partners. She will also meet with Syrian refugees during a visit to the EU aid project.

Over the past 13 years, the EU and its Member States have mobilised over €33.3 billion in humanitarian, development, economic and stabilisation assistance for the Syrian crisis. This has supported Syrians inside the country and across the region.
More than 13 years after the start of the Syrian crisis, half of the population has been displaced, either inside or outside the country. The number of people in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance has continued to rise since 2020, reaching 16.7 million in 2024, the highest level since the beginning of the crisis in 2011.

As a leading donor, the EU and its Member States have provided sustained humanitarian funding since the beginning of the crisis. The EU is also funding humanitarian assistance in countries across the region hosting millions of Syrian refugees.

In late 2024, to help Syrians affected by the growing unrest and instability in the region, the EU also:
Provided immediate emergency funding of €5.5 million to address the needs of those who have rapidly crossed the border from Lebanon, including €2.8 million to UNHCR.
Allocated an additional €4 million to address the most urgent humanitarian needs of people crossing into Syria.
UNHCR dispatched aid through a dedicated Humanitarian Air Bridge from Dubai and EU truck convoys in December from its stockpile in Denmark.