Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question today is the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Bob Carr. Minister, all senators in the chamber have been watching with concern the humanitarian crisis that is playing out in Syria. Can you please update the Senate on the situation there?

Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

More than 93,000 people have been killed; 6.8 million Syrians needing humanitarian assistance; 1.6 million refugees, and estimates that there will be 3.6 million by the end of this year; a third of Syria's housing stock, 1.2 million homes, damaged or destroyed and an estimate that the homes of nine million people will be destroyed by the end of the year—nine million out of 22 million.

Australia has sought to respond to this immense human tragedy of Syria on four levels, the first being humanitarian. We have committed $78.5 million in assistance to the camps, where desperate refugees are trying to seek some shelter. We are the eighth largest donor to this crisis. Second, we will continue to advocate access to and protection of medical facilities, personnel and supplies, to stop the deliberate targeting of personnel and hospitals and the denial of medical access. Third, Australia will not supply arms to opposition elements. Such a course is not compatible with our assessment that Australia can most effectively contribute through humanitarian channels; nor can we have any certainty about the recipients, the use or the traceability of such arms.

Fourth, and most importantly, there will be no end to this suffering in Syria without a political settlement. Australia therefore supports the early convening of the Geneva II conference. The conference needs, above all, to achieve a ceasefire. It also needs to establish a transitional authority—an authority with full executive powers that can give the people of Syria some hope for a democratic future. And the efforts of Joint Special Representative Brahimi must be supported. We want progress within the country to enable the people of Syria to vote and elect their own government for the first time, effectively, in their history. (Time expired)

Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I thank the minister for that response. They are quite catastrophic statistics that we have just heard, but the impact of the crisis goes beyond Syria's borders. Can the minister outline the regional dimensions of this crisis?

Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have had the melancholy duty, I suppose, of speaking to refugees in Jordan and in Lebanon. Only last month I travelled to a village in the Bekaa Valley in Northern Lebanon, close to the border with Syria. I saw a UNICEF childcare centre and met a group of Syrian women who only that night had crossed over the border following the fighting in Qatar. The stories were ones of tragedy. They had lost family members. They had lost the means of their livelihood. They had lost cows, they had lost cars and they had lost their houses. They had seen communities wiped out.

Lebanon is hosting around half a million refugees—and the number could grow to a million by the end of the year. One Lebanese politician told me that, if there is intensive fighting around Damascus, he would not be surprised if half a million refugees presented on the border with Lebanon. Another Lebanese politician said, 'Make that one million refugees from possible fighting.' Our friends in Lebanon are suffering. (Time expired)

Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Could the minister advise the Senate about reports of chemical weapons being used in Syria?

Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian government shares the assessment that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale multiple times, including the deadly nerve agent Sarin. The use of chemical weapons is abhorrent. It is a clear breach of international law and it raises the serious possibility of mass atrocity crimes.

Australia has been at the forefront of efforts to rid the world of chemical weapons for over 30 years. We established the Australia Group in 1985 to prevent the export of materials and equipment that could aid the proliferation of chemical weapons and we secured the passage of the chemical weapons convention through the UN General Assembly in 1993. We support a comprehensive UN investigation into all reports of chemical weapons use in Syria and stand ready to assist the UN's investigation.