Austria increases financial aid to Syria

Austria increased its financial assistance for Syrian refugees by about 700,000 U.S. dollars during an international donors' conference in Kuwait, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Tuesday.
The pledge will increase the Austrian financial contribution for humanitarian aid in Syria and surrounding countries to 2.15 million dollars for 2015, and take it to 11 million dollars in total aid since 2012.
"It is important to help locally, so that people do not continue to flee and turn the country over to the IS," a spokesperson told Austria Press Agency on behalf of Foreign Affairs Minister Sebastian Kurz.
Additionally, Kurz said the fight against the jihadist militia requires an emphasis on humanitarian aid and political measures.
A total of 3.8 billion U.S. dollars were pledged at the donors' conference, still considerably short of the total 8.4 billion dollars in aid the United Nations has requested in its latest appeal.