FOI/202500464789 · FOI · not held
Scottish Government funds sent to Syria: FOI release
Information requested
How much money has the Scottish Government sent to Syria or charities/organisations in Syria in the last three years, with a breakdown of where the money went?
Response
Please see below some of the information you requested.
Details of our humanitarian funding can also be found on our web pages International development - gov.scot. For example, details of humanitarian funding (including for Syria) are available at the following pages:
for the period between 2017 and 2024: [ARCHIVED CONTENT] Responding to humanitarian crises - International development - gov.scot; for the period between 2023 and 2025: Humanitarian response - International development - gov.scot
Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the websites listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested.
The answer to your question is that funding for Syria over the last three years has been part of wider Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeals for multiple countries in the Middle East. For this reason, the Scottish Government does not hold the information in relation to the exact figures allocated to activities in Syria.
This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.
However, for your information, I have included below an outline of funding streams which have included activity in Syria. The figures below also include activity in other countries in the Middle East so do not represent funding amounts allocated to Syria alone, as is explained in each point.
In February 2023, £500,000 was awarded to the Türkiye and Syria earthquake DEC appeal: £500,000 emergency funding for Türkiye and Syria. - gov.scot In 2024, the Scottish Government awarded £250,000 to support humanitarian efforts in the Middle East with £200,000 contributed to a fund shared between the Disaster Emergency Committee’s 15 member organisations helping to provide food, water, medical assistance and shelter to displaced people in the region. SCIAF and Mercy Corps each received £25,000 to support aid activities: Humanitarian aid for Middle East - gov.scot Further to 2024 funding, in late April 2025, £300,000 of funding was announced to support humanitarian aid efforts in the Middle East. As above this included £240,000 to be shared between the Disaster Emergency Committee’s 15 member organisations to help provide urgent assistance to those affected by the ongoing conflict, including food, clean water, medical care, and shelter for displaced individuals in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria. It also included £30,000 each to Mercy Corps and SCIAF for their responses in Lebanon and Syria: Additional support provided for Middle East appeal - gov.scot
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Correspondence Unit Email: contactus@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrew's House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Detected exemption language
For example, details of humanitarian funding (including for Syria) are available at the following pages: for the period between 2017 and 2024: [ARCHIVED CONTENT] Responding to humanitarian crises - International development - gov.scot; for the period between 2023 and 2025: Humanitarian response - International development - gov.scot Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.
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