Taiwan will continue to assist with Syria's reconstruction: MOFA

Taipei, March 30 (CNA) Taiwan will continue its efforts alongside other nations and global organizations to help Syrians rebuild their country, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Saturday.

As a member of the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, Taiwan remains committed to assisting the Syrian people so they can return soon to a stable and peaceful life, the ministry said in a statement, but did not elaborate on Taiwan's efforts going forward.

Since 2014, Taiwan has been a member of the coalition and has been providing humanitarian assistance in war-torn Syria, the ministry said.

Through official channels and non-governmental organizations, Taiwan has donated 350 prefabricated houses, a mobile hospital, winter clothing and rice to people in Syria and to Syrian refugees in Jordan, Iraq and Turkey, who have been displaced as a result of the armed conflict that involved ISIS, the ministry said.

Taiwan has also provided funding and equipment to help clear mines in Syria, MOFA said.

In February, a Taiwan delegation, led by the country's representative to the United States Stanley Kao (高碩泰), attended a meeting of ministerial officials from 74 nations and five international organizations, which was hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington to discuss countermeasures against Islamic terrorist groups.

In response to a call by Pompeo, Kao said at the meeting that Taiwan would donate US$500,000 to Nadia's Initiative, which was founded in 2016 by Nadia Murad, who became the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner, to advocate for victims of sexual violence and to help rebuild communities in crisis.

U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces announced on March 23 that they had regained all the territories controlled by ISIS, bringing an end to the so-called caliphate declared by the terrorist group in 2014.

Following the announcement, the U.S. State Department said that humanitarian assistance, reconstruction, and stability operations will be the focus of its missions in Syria and Iraq.