Brussels, 22/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 21 March, MEPs from the civil liberties committee at the EP adopted their position on the European refugee resettlement programme in the EU. The programme was also validated by EU ministers for home affairs on 8 March, and will provide more resources for member states that want to take in refugees. It aims to resettle people who have obtained refugee status in a third country, for example, Libyan refugees in Tunisia, being resettled in the EU.
The resettlement programme will incorporate a broader list of people eligible for protection in the EU, such as women and non-accompanied minors and those in need of significant medical treatment, explained an EP press release, which also added that resettlement would be funded out of the European Refugee Fund. Payments made to member states participating in the programme will be revised upwards. Member states currently receive €4,000 per person resettled on their territory but to encourage more EU countries to help in resettlement, member states resettling refugees for the first time will get €6,000 per person for the first year and €5,000 per person for the second year. For the rest the sum received will stay at €4,000. Furthermore, the programme will set a series of geographical priorities on a yearly basis. In 2013, these will cover, among others, “Iraqi refugees in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan; Afghan refugees in Turkey, Pakistan and Iran; Congolese refugees in Burundi, Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia or Somali refugees in Ethiopia”, explains the Parliament.
The vote will now have to be confirmed in plenary session on 29 March. If the programme is adopted, the EP explains that member states will have until 1 May 2012 to send the Commission an estimate of the number of persons they will resettle next year. Several member states have national resettlement programmes for refugees from third countries. According to Commission estimates, in 2011 the EU27 only provided monetary assistance for around 900 resettlement places to the thousands of refugees having to flee their countries, particularly Libya, in the aftermath of the Arab Spring events. (SP/transl.fl)