Japan Did Not Recently Say It Will Help Rebuild Syria

Misbar investigated the circulated claim and found it suspicious. Japan did not recently say that it would help rebuild Syria. Instead, the country had announced on March 15 that it is ready to take part in Syria’s reconstruction. However, Japan said this would be conditional on making progress in the peace process unanimously adopted in Security Council Resolution 2254.

At the time, social media pages and accounts shared the news that is now being reshared in exactly the same wording.

Photo Description: The screenshot shows the exact same news shared on March 21.

Last March, Akira Endo, Japan’s Special Coordinator for Syria, said that his country was ready to contribute to the reconstruction of Syria, but not before the political process has made progress in line with Security Council Resolution 2254.

The latest post published by the official website of the Japanese embassy in Syria was a text of the speech of Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu on Syria’s presidential elections. In the speech, the foreign minister said: “Japan believes it is regrettable that the election was implemented without any constructive response by the Government of Syria, without realization of a ceasefire throughout Syria, and without progress in the political process.” He also added that, “[w]e recognize that the implementation of this election was inconsistent with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254.”

Japan has contributed several times to supporting U.N. projects in Syria, including by providing an amount of $7.8 million, last March, in support of UNICEF’s Learning in Times of Crisis project. Last October, Japan also contributed $6.5 million to help the most vulnerable children gain safe access to education in rural Damascus and Aleppo.

Translated by: Ahmed N. A. Almassri