Stephen Kinnock – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Kinnock on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 May 2016 to Question 37099, if the Government will support a public call on the government of Turkey to end the closure of its border with Syria.

Mr David Lidington

Turkey continues to show extraordinary generosity by hosting over 2.7 million Syrian refugees. This has included granting Syrian refugees the right to work, and providing education and committing to increase access to it. Turkey also offers humanitarian support to refugees across its border with Syria. I refer the Honourable Gentleman to my answer of 25 May 2016 in response to his Written Question of 18 May 2016 (37099). It remains our understanding that the Turkish government has made preparations to accept more Syrian refugees should conditions in Syria necessitate so, but that its approach is to enable humanitarian aid to be provided to affected populations in northern Syria. Turkey has confirmed that its border remains open to the most vulnerable Syrian refugees. We take all allegations about Turkish treatment of migrants seriously, and raise them regularly with the Turkish authorities.