The event was attended by ambassadors and representatives of international organizations and civil society CAIRO: Egypt’s Foreign Ministry affirmed the country’s commitment to protecting and helping asylum seekers and refugees, and the importance of coordination between donors and the government to that end. The commitment was expressed during an event organized by the ministry to launch a regional response plan to support Syrian refugees residing in Egypt and their host communities, as well as Egypt’s response plan for refugees and asylum seekers from Africa, Iraq and Yemen for the year 2020-2021. Ihab Fawzi, assistant to Egypt’s foreign minister for multilateral affairs and international security, stressed the importance of equality among refugees, regardless of nationality, in allocating financial support provided by donor countries. He stressed the need to increase international support for Egypt as it shoulders the burden of hosting so many refugees. Richard Dictus, the UN’s resident coordinator in Egypt, urged donor countries to increase their support to alleviate this burden. He also stressed the UN’s keenness to coordinate between all agencies in Egypt to ensure access to the most vulnerable refugees and migrants, especially in light of coronavirus. Karim Atassi, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, thanked Egypt’s government and people for hosting refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, and said the country has not received international support equivalent to the cost it bears in hosting them. He praised the government’s efforts to serve refugees and ensure that they have access to basic services. The event was attended by ambassadors and representatives of international organizations and civil society.