Local MP Marcus Jones has backed the Government’s response to the humanitarian catastrophe facing Syria and the region.

Since the start of the crisis, more than 100,000 people have been killed. There are 6.8m people in need of humanitarian assistance within Syria. Over 4m of them have had to flee their home.

The conflict is also causing what is fast approaching the biggest refugee crisis of the 21st Century. The United Nations has announced that the number of refugees has exceeded 2m, half of them children.

Marcus is fully behind the Government’s humanitarian approach and the UK has been at the forefront of the response. Syria represents the UK’s largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis, with £348m pledged to the Syrian people and the wider region since the start of the crisis. The UK’s support includes food for over 285,000 people every month; clean drinking water for almost 1 million people, almost 300,000 medical consultations and over 300,000 relief items such as blankets and kitchen sets.

Commenting on the humanitarian response, Marcus said: “There can be no doubting that the situation in Syria is a catastrophe and it is right that the UK Government is playing a leading role in trying to help some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

“The impact on the region and on neighbouring countries is significant. Lebanon is a country with a population of about 4 million people, yet they are hosting over 1 million refugees from Syria. To give that some content, that is the equivalent of 15 million people arriving in the UK.

“Aid is reaching the people it needs to reach but the Syrian regime continues to impose bureaucratic hurdles on agencies and all parties to the conflict continue to obstruct humanitarian operations. It is a tragedy and the UK Government has my support in continuing to help those so badly affected by the crisis.”