Brussels, 17/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - European solidarity is at work, via the EU civil protection mechanism, to assist the Jordan authorities who have been swamped by the influx of Syrian refugees and who made a formal request for assistance on the evening of Friday 14 September. The Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC), the central body of the civil protection mechanism, which was immediately activated to respond to this urgent request, is currently coordinating offers of help. The request for assistance focuses on essential items - shelter, blankets, mattresses, stoves, water tanks, sanitation facilities, hygiene kits - and financial assistance.
In a press release, Kristalina Georgieva, the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, expressed her “gratitude to Jordan which, together with Turkey and Lebanon, is a generous host to the Syrian refugees”. She stressed that "any additional assistance which can be provided by member states will contribute to Europe's solidarity with the victims of this conflict”.
Jordan, which is already accommodating more than 200,000 refugees (including some 27,000 in camps), is at the upper limit of its hosting capacities and has called for international assistance of €700 million to be able to accommodate up to 240,000 (see EUROPE 10684). Readers may recall that the European Commission is getting ready to mobilise additional humanitarian aid of €50 million in favour of the victims of the crisis in Syria and the neighbour countries, bringing its humanitarian effort to €119 million. (AN/transl.fl)