Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how UK aid has been used to assist refugees near the Syrian border to date; and if she will make a statement.

The UK has been at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region and has pledged over £1.1 billion to date, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. We have allocated £559 million to support refugees in the region and £561 million to support those in need inside Syria.Our support has reached hundreds of thousands of people in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. By the end of June 2015, our support in Syria and the region had delivered almost 20 million food rations, provided over 2.5 million medical consultations and resulted in over 7.2 million instances when people benefited from sanitation and hygiene activities.

The UK prioritises its assistance according to where needs are greatest, and works with trusted humanitarian organisations to assist the most vulnerable populations in hard-to-reach areas.