USAID Assistant Administrator Lindborg on Her Impressions of a Syrian Refugee Camp in Turkey

On January 25, 2013, U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford, Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration Anne C. Richard, and USAID Assistant Administrator for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance Nancy Lindborg met with Turkish partners and assistance providers to discuss the needs of Syrian refugees and ongoing humanitarian assistance efforts.

Transcript

We spent the day at the camp here and it is, it's heartbreaking. You hear stories of families who were in their house when it was shelled. I spoke to a number of women who have been here for a year and a half, it's very difficult for them to stay in touch with their families who are still back in Syria. It is story after story of tragic loss, of sometimes brutality that they suffered and it's always the women and the children who suffer the most.

We have prioritized getting critical winter assistance in. It's cold right now and we know that when you're displaced and you've had to leave your home suddenly that you need essential blankets, carpets, warm clothing, plastic sheeting, ways to help families survive the winter. We will have reached four hundred and sixty thousand people, particularly in the northern parts of Syria with that kind of help by the end of this month. We know that's not enough.

This is a crisis of enormous proportions. We are moving aggressively to provide additional assistance. We call on other countries to do the same. This visit is a really important opportunity to underscore that the United States government and the people of America have been and will continue to be in support of the Syrian people.