Brussels, 03/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - The EU is stepping up its aid to alleviate the major humanitarian crisis that is looming with the massive inflow of refugees from Libya. Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, and Enikö Györi, Hungary's Minister of State for EU Affairs, issued a statement from the Tunisian//Libyan border on Thursday 3 March, calling on EU member states to step up the effort to repatriate the thousands of refugees amassing at the border and to bring them emergency assistance. Georgieva also announced that the European Commission planned to provide emergency humanitarian aid of €30 million (compared to the €10 million announced the day before by José Manuel Barroso - see EUROPE 10327).
“The unleashing of violence in Libya has triggered a major humanitarian crisis at Europe's doorstep. Europe's values and interests command us to act decisively and this is what we are doing. Europe has mobilised itself not only to evacuate EU citizens in a coordinated and speedy manner, but also to address the dire needs of people suffering - whether refugees fleeing Libya or those trapped by conflict inside the country”, the two EU representatives state in a joint press release.
France and the United Kingdom have already deployed heavy transport aircraft and naval vessels for the repatriation of refugees, mainly Egyptian. Michèle Striffler (EPP, France), the permanent rapporteur for humanitarian aid at the European Parliament, welcomes this but deplores the fact that other EU member states do not seem to have understood the magnitude of the situation, which could get even worse. It is indispensable, she said, for member states to provide more human and logistic means to ensure the evacuation of tens of thousands of refugees currently in camps in Tunisia. Striffler expressed very great concern at how the humanitarian situation in Libya is developing, given that, on Thursday, 160,000 displaced persons had crossed the borders with Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Niger but that 40,000 persons, who were blocked at the Tunisian border, have disappeared in a zone where troops loyal to Colonel Gadhafi continue their repression. The area between Benghazi and Tripoli, which is inaccessible to humanitarian aid, is no doubt becoming the cradle of a humanitarian disaster, she warned. She welcomes the Commission's decision to increase the amount of humanitarian aid to Libya. (A.N./transl.jl)