Millions in additional German aid for Syrian refugees

As the conference wrapped up on Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (pictured above right) announced that Berlin would provide an additional 500 million euros ($637 million) to help Syria's neighbors, which have faced a massive influx of refugees since the fighting broke out more than three years ago.

Steinmeier said the funds, which were to go towards humanitarian and development projects, would be spread over the next three years.

"The international community is not abandoning the refugees from Syria and we stand four-square by the nations that are giving them shelter," Steinmeier told the conference, which was attended by foreign ministers and other representatives of around 40 countries.

German Development Minister Gerd Mülller (above left) said 140 million euros would be made available by the end of the year for projects in Lebanon and Jordan, which have been hardest hit by the wave of refugees. He also said Germany planned to work with the children's charity UNICEF to set up a refugee camp in northern Iraq, to be completed within the next eight weeks.

Neighbors' appeal for help

Earlier in the day, Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon all appealed for greater international assistance, saying their capacity to take in refugees from the Syrian civil war was virtually exhausted.

"The massive influx of Syrians into poor communities totally unprepared to cope with such a sudden burden has been destabilizing, with such a variety of challenges and threats that constitute a fertile ground for extremism and violence," said Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

Lebanon, which has a population of 4.5 million, has taken in more than a million refugees from Syria since it descended into civil war in early 2011. Jordan's foreign minister echoed Salam's warning, saying that Amman was nearly at the point of exhaustion. It has taken in more than 600,000 Syrian refugees.

"We are approaching host-country fatigue in which the limit of our ability to address the needs of Syrian refugees is being tested and has already been reached," Nasser Judeh said.

Turkey's deputy foreign minister, Naci Koru, told the Berlin conference that the world had to contribute more money to the humanitarian response. According to Koru, Ankara has spent $4 billion caring for more than one million Syrian refugees, but has received only a $250 million in aid from the international community.

Prior to Tuesday's conference, the United Nations' refugee agency, the UNHCR had repeatedly called on the international community to do more to help Syria's neighbors, which, according to its own estimates, have taken in more than three million refugees. It also estimates that 6.5 million Syrians have been forced to flee within the borders of their own country.

pfd/es (AP, AFP, dpa)