EC gives Bosnia and Herzegovina 1.5M euro humanitarian aid for refugees and asylum seekers
The European Commission (EC) announced on June 7 a total of 1.5 million euro in humanitarian aid to address the increasing needs of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants stranded in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This brings European Commission humanitarian funding to 30.5 million euro to address the needs in Western Balkans since the start of the refugee crisis, the EC said.
European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides said: “The number of refugees and migrants arriving in Bosnia and Herzegovina has increased and we must act swiftly.
“We are committed to help Bosnia and Herzegovina deal with this situation and deliver assistance to the most vulnerable refugees and migrants. Our funding will support their basic needs and provide emergency shelter, food and health assistance, as well as protection,” Stylianides said.
EU humanitarian aid will be provided in locations such as Sarajevo, Bihać and Velika Kladusa in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The funding aims to strengthen the provision of assistance, the protective environment and enhancing the capacity of organisations already providing first-line emergency response, the EC said.
Since the beginning of the refugee crisis in Western Balkans, the European Commission has allocated more than 25 million euro in humanitarian aid to assist refugees and migrants in Serbia, and more than million euro to the Republic of Macedonia.
In addition to humanitarian assistance, the European Commission provides Western Balkans partners with significant financial and technical support for activities related to migration and refugee crisis.
This is done primarily through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance.
Since 2007, the EC has been providing assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the area of migration and border management through the Instrument of pre-accession amounting to 24.6 million euro.
From January 2016, Bosnia and Herzegovina also benefits from the regional programme ‘Support to Protection-Sensitive Migration Management’ worth eight million euro.
Around 4900 refugees and migrants entered Bosnia and Herzegovina since early January 2018, according to government estimates. About 2500 refugees and migrants in need of assistance are currently stranded in the country. The EU will provide its assistance through humanitarian partner organisations already present in the country.
(Photo: Sébastien Bertrand)
