March 2, 2016 — The International Rescue Committee (IRC) applauds the European Commission’s announcement to make €700m available in humanitarian assistance for EU countries affected by the refugee crisis.
The additional assistance has the potential to significantly improve the EU’s ability to address the crisis within the EU’s borders and to alleviate the suffering of hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing war and persecution.
We welcome the European Commission’s commitment to ensure that funding for the humanitarian response within Europe will not detract from the EU’s ability to fund humanitarian crisis response elsewhere in the world. However, we caution that these funds must be new and not diverted from existing planned funding. We warn that the European Parliament and the Council must make budget available quickly, and that the funding must flow in a coordinated way.
International Rescue Committee President & CEO, David Miliband said: “It is right that the European Commission recognises the need for extraordinary measures in dealing with the refugee crisis. The IRC knows from our work in Greece and Serbia of the great and rising needs, and from our teams in the Middle East that the "push" factors driving people away from the region remain very strong. It is crucial that the funding is new and not diverted from other crises. The funding must flow quickly and be delivered in a coordinated way to achieve maximum impact.”
The IRC has been responding to the European refugee crisis since July 2015 both on the island of Lesbos, Greece and through partners in Serbia. IRC provides refugees with the basic services and information they need before they continue their journey to Europe. IRC protection teams identify the most vulnerable cases – the elderly, women and girls, and unaccompanied children – and work with humanitarian partners to ensure they receive the care and services they need.