EU announces additional emergency aid to help refugees in Serbia
The European Commission announced on October 8 that it had added an additional four million euro in humanitarian aid for Serbia to assist the thousands of refugees and asylum-seekers in the country.
The new contracts came as European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides was on his fourth visit to the country where he assessed the humanitarian situation on the ground and discussed the EU’s humanitarian support for refugees with government officials.
The new projects finance food distribution in reception centres, the protection of the most vulnerable affected populations in particular during the upcoming winter and education-related activities.
“Serbia has been a reliable partner to the European Union, and our partnership has allowed an effective response to the refugee crisis,” Stylianides said.
“The EU has been a leading provider of humanitarian aid to the hosting of refugees in Serbia since 2015. We have helped improve conditions in many reception centres, contributed to food provision in camps, provided education in emergencies to children and helped providing health services. The additional projects announced today will address the needs of the most vulnerable population especially during the upcoming winter season,” he said.
Since 2015, the EU has been the largest contributor of emergency aid to Serbia. The Commission’s humanitarian aid now stands at 25 million euro, and has enabled the provision of emergency assistance (food, water, hygiene, essential items, health and protection) at transit and reception points, including borders and waiting areas. A total of more than 80 million euro has been provided to the country in EU migration related funding since 2015.
As of mid-September 2017, more than 4000 refugees and asylum-seekers are registered in Serbia – roughly the same number as a year ago.
(Archive photo from 2015: IOCC.org)
