Brussels, 29/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - European Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and MEPs, in Strasbourg on Wednesday evening 28 September, called on member states to do more to help resettle refugees of war stranded on the Tunisia-Libya border.
In July, a delegation of six MEPs of different groups travelled to Libya and visited the refugee camps. They were alarmed by the lukewarm response from the EU. In the debate in Strasbourg following that visit, MEPs once again called on member states to take in these refugees, 4,425 in total according to figures provided by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
Hitherto, Malmström stated, seven member states (Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Belgium, Finland and the Netherland) have agreed to resettle refugees, 700 places having been made available so far. However, “we know that needs are greater”, the commissioner said, noting, too, that the Commission's room for action was limited and that “the decision remains in the hands of the states”. She proposed that more money from European funds should be allocated to provide an incentive for member states to take in more people.
MEPs regretted that the EU is not fulfilling its promises to support the Arab Spring, particularly with regard to Tunisia which has agreed to take in a large number of refugees. Some MEPs also criticised France and the United Kingdom for their refusal to trigger their resettlement programmes for these refugees when it was on the initiative of these two countries that the international offensive against the Muammar Gaddafi regime was launched. According to Commission figures, the EU resettled 5,000 people in 2010 compared with 75,000 in the United States. By way of further comparison, Canada and Norway each took in more refugees than the member states. (SP/transl.rt)