UAE residency visas to more than 100,000 Syrians since 2011

Dubai: The UAE has provided residency permits to more than 100,000 Syrians since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011.

A UAE statement carried by the Associated Press news agency explained that more than 242,000 Syrian nationals currently live in the country. The statement was in response to a question by the agency on the role of the UAE and other Gulf states in addressing the ongoing global refugee crisis. “The UAE has made it one of its foreign policy priorities to address this issue in a sustainable and humane fashion together with its regional and international partners,” the statement said.

In addition to the visa extensions, the UAE said it has provided more than $530 million in humanitarian aid and development assistance since 2012 in response to the Syrian crisis.

Part of that aid goes to fund one of three refugee camps in Jordan, which is sheltering more than half a million Syrian refugees, the AP reported.

— With inputs from AP