VP/HR — The Plight of Christians in Syria

7.7.2014

Question for written answer E-005639-14
to the Commission (Vice-President/High Representative)
Rule 130
Philippe Juvin (PPE)

Syria is one of the countries where the situation of Christians deteriorated most in 2013, moving up from 36th to 11th place in the World Persecution Index presented in January 2013 by the Christian organisation Open Doors. Accounting for 8% of the Syrian population before the conflict began, Christians today are a particularly vulnerable minority, whether they are seen as supporting the Assad regime or as excessively neutral.

As part of its Guidelines on the Promotion and Protection of Freedom of Religion or Belief adopted on 24 June 2013, what action will the EU take to ensure that the Christian community in Syria continues to exist and to fight against acts of violence perpetrated against it, to allow Syrian Christians to remain in their homeland or return there safely and, more broadly, to secure the right to religious freedom in Syria?

What financial support has been granted — and will be granted in future — under the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights to improve the situation of Christians in Syria?