More EU humanitarian assistance for Syria

The European Union (EU) Tuesday approved an increase in humanitarian and development assistance to Syria by 50 million euros ($67 million), an official statement said.

In reaction to the continuing deterioration of the situation in Syria, the EU Council backed a proposal to increase humanitarian assistance, bringing the total humanitarian support for Syria to 150 million euros ($201 million) in 2014, Xinhua reported.

The additional support is aimed at helping health care services, providing medicines and scaling up water supply, the statement said.

The Council also approved a proposal to increase development assistance in order to address the more medium-term needs in neighbouring countries, dealing with the flow of refugees.

The bloc would pay out 125 million euros in addition to the 75 million euros already available under the European Neighbourhood Instrument, bringing the total development aid to 200 million euros in 2014.

With the Syrian conflict entering its fourth year, around 9.3 million people inside the country and a further 2.8 million refugees are currently in need of vital assistance.

The EU has imposed an asset freeze and travel ban on 15 Syrian ministers against the government's "violent repression" of its civilian population.

The EU has called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down and a transition government to be set up that could end a conflict that has left more than a hundred thousand people dead in the last three years.