Inter-Parliamentary Union: Political solution to Syrian crisis critical

A political situation to the Syrian crisis should urgently be found, members of an Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) mission assessing the impact of the refugee influx in Jordan concluded on Friday, adding that the humanitarian response to the Syrian conflict was neither sufficient nor sustainable. The mission, aimed at mobilizing parliamentary action on the growing Syrian refugee and humanitarian crisis, is composed of members of parliament from around the world. The IPU mission underscored in its initial findings the need to inject necessary means to alleviate human sufferings and to find innovative financial and human resources to tackle the crisis in the mid- to long-term. There were also concerns about refugee children not attending schools, in some cases for up to two years. The mission stressed the importance of child refugees receiving an all-round education. "The scale of needs here are so great for both refugees and Jordanians that the situation is rapidly getting out of hand... Time is running out. Jordan and other countries hosting Syrian refugees need the whole world to stand up and be counted in their response, not just traditional donors," IPU Secretary General Anders Johnsson said in a written statement. The mission will report its full findings to all parliaments in the coming days and urge them to take action to ensure concrete support is provided from countries around the globe.