Australia to provide additional aid, assistance for Syria

Australia will provide additional relief aid worth USD 8.92 million to help Syrian refugees as well as an additional USD 1. 78 million to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to support the work with the United Nations in overseeing the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop confirmed on Thursday. The Foreign Minister said that Australia's total humanitarian assistance in response to the Syrian crisis reached thus far USD 99.93 million since the conflict began in March 2011. "Australia's contribution to this important international mission reflects our longstanding commitment to the global ban on chemical weapons," Bishop said. "Australia was among the first countries to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention which established the global ban and we have consistently called on Syria, and all countries, to adhere to and implement it," she added.