Media Center

Geneva– Information Office – 17 December      

The State of Qatar has affirmed its commitment to continue to enhance its strategic relations and partnerships with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and to provide the necessary support for its activities and efforts.

HE Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lolwah Al Khater pointed in the statement of the State of Qatar at the Global Refugee Forum to the struggle of 5.4 million Palestinian refugees and stressed the need for finding a just solution based on related international resolutions, and to continue supporting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) She stressed that the government of the State of Qatar and charitable Qatari organizations were committed to enhancing the partnership with the UNHCR.

She noted that the State of Qatar provided $60 million to the UNHCR over the last five years, while Qatar Fund for Development provided aid of $235 million from 2013 to 2019 to countries such as Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, and the Rohingya in Bangladesh.

She said that the State of Qatar signed agreements to support the UNHCR, and is considered one of the biggest donors to the UN agency. Her Excellency noted that the State of Qatar launched many humanitarian initiatives such as Education Above All that pledged to provide education to 10 million children, 2.3 million of which are refugees. She also discussed the QUEST initiative which aims to benefit 619 thousand Syrian refugees, and added that Silatech provides vocational training to roughly a million young people. The organization is also working on providing five million jobs by 2022, particularly to refugees.

She noted that the State of Qatar issued in 2018 a law regulating political asylum, stressing its humanitarian role in protecting refugees. She added that the law was part of a larger legal framework that aims to enhance and protect human rights.