Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government provides any funding for (a) Syria Civil Defence’s early warning ‘Sentry’ system and (b) any other system to provide flight observation and early warning of air attacks targeting civilians in Syria; and if the Government will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing ongoing funding for that purpose.

The UK is committed to help protect civilians in Syria. As part of that effort, we have supported Syrian Civil Defence (SCD) since 2013, including having provided £650,000 to support SCD Sentry, an early warning system that aims to provide civilians with as much warning as possible prior to an airstrike - every time, day or night. Warnings are currently accessible through multiple online and over-the-air platforms. We will continue to assess ways that we can help protect civilians in Syria from the devastating impact of the Syrian regime and Russian airstrikes.