During the EP Plenary session (03-06/10) in Strasbourg MEPs debate&nbsp;on the access to education for Syrian children in Lebanon. Statements by Johannes HAHN, Member of the EC in charge of European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Jeroen LENAERS (EPP, NL), Norbert NEUSER (S&amp;D, DE), Ryszard CZARNECKI (ECR, PL), Maite PAGAZAURTUND&Uacute;A RUIZ (ALDE, ES), Lola S&Aacute;NCHEZ CALDENTEY (GUE/NGL, ES), and Bodil VALERO (Greens/EFA, SE).

Strasbourg

EU - Syria (T)

debate

plenary session

EU - Lebanon (T)

VALERO, Bodil (Greens/EFA, SE)

LENAERS, Jeroen (EPP, NL)

PAGAZAURTUNDÚA, Maite (Renew, ES)

NEUSER, Norbert (S&D, DE)

SÁNCHEZ CALDENTEY, Lola (GUE/NGL, ES)

children's rights (T)

HAHN, Johannes (AT, EC)

CZARNECKI, Ryszard (ECR, PL)

Access to education for Syrian children in Lebanon: extracts from the debate

Arrival of Johannes HAHN, Member of the EC in charge of European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, in the Chamber

SOUNDBITE (English), Johannes HAHN, Member of the EC in charge of European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, We have a 10% commitment to the goal of education for all Syrian refugee children in line with our pledge at the Syria London Donors' conference. It is absolutely essential that we don't loose a generation of displaced Syrian children.

SOUNDBITE (English), Johannes HAHN, Member of the EC in charge of European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, So far we have made a substantial contribution to education in Lebanon, with 180 million euros allocated to the sector since the beginning of the crisis.We have stepped up this approach, both through the EU Trust Fund in response to the Syria crisis as well through the compact we have been negotiating with the Lebanese and Jordan authorities.

SOUNDBITE (English), Johannes HAHN, Member of the EC in charge of European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, I am pleased to say that this coming school year, is already well funded and we will be able to cover school fees for over 168,000 Syrian children in formal education.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Jeroen LENAERS (EPP, NL), The EU support for the country is crucial. We have to provide support to help Lebanon deal with the over a million refugees from Syria who found refuge in the neighbouring country. We share responsibility to care for the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of children who need schooling. And that applies to Palestinian refugees too.

SOUNDBITE (German), Norbert NEUSER (S&amp;D, DE), This is about children's wellbeing, it is a question of building Syria after the civil war. It is a question of preventing more people from having to leave the camps and come to Europe. What the people in Turkey were telling us was, we are leaving Turkey because our children don't have opportunity of being properly integrated in schools and the education system.

SOUNDBITE (Polish), Ryszard CZARNECKI (ECR, PL), Of course there some differences of opinion between us, we have differences of opinion about refugees in Europe etc, but I think that we all agree here in the parliament that we need to invest in education. The education of young refugees, the more schooling they get, the more education they get, the less chance they will be attracted by terrorism.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Maite PAGAZAURTUND&#218;A RUIZ (ALDE, ES), UNICEF has been doing an amazing job, there's been 168,000 that have been able to go to school this year, but there's been more than 200,000 that have not been able to. We can't allow that to go on. We have to make sure that all the children can go to school. Because 6 years of lost schooling, is a whole life of a child.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Lola S&#193;NCHEZ CALDENTEY (GUE/NGL, ES), Lebanon, which can give us lessons in international legality when it comes to refugees, gives the right of schooling to Syrian children. Still, the support of the EU and the Members States to the education of the refugees is still very deficient and secondary. It is not a about a lack of resources but a question of priorities. Because we have 7 billion euros to give to Turkey to do our dirty work, but we are not capable of guaranteeing a human right, as a qualitative public education to the refugees.

SOUNDBITE (Swedish), Bodil VALERO (Greens/EFA, SE), The Commissioner also raised the problem with the refugees losing their residence permits, and when you are without residence permit you become paperless. And when you are paperless you don't dare to let your children go to school, because you are afraid that they will find the parents via the whereabouts of the children.