Brussels, 12/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is about to earmark €5.6 million to help member states respond to the needs of migrants and refugees arriving on their territory. The amount was decided as part of the third health programme and was announced in a press release published on Tuesday 12 January.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IMO), more than 1 million migrants entered the EU in 2015 and as a result, severely put member states' healthcare systems to the test. In this context, the European Commission selected four projects as part of its call for proposals on 28 October 2015, to “support member states in their responses to health-related challenges created by migratory pressure”.
The first focuses on a direct subsidies agreement of €1 million for the attention of the International Organization for Migration (IMO). It seeks to “improve the capacity of member states under migratory pressure, to help them tackle migrants' health issues when they arrive on their territory, whilst responding to cross-border health threats, particularly in hotspots and reception facilities”. They will also be used to help establish medical records for migrants and assess their health requirements.
The second project targets countries of arrival and transit (Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia), the customary countries of destination (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Malta, Sweden and the Netherlands), as well as new countries of destination (Portugal, Poland and Spain). It has a budget of €537,000.
The third project will help eight non-governmental organisations support the health authorities in 11 member states (Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Slovenia). This project has a budget of €2.7 million and will particularly focus on children, non-accompanied minors and pregnant women.
The fourth and final project will have a total budget of €1.2 million and will focus on the short and long-term reception requirements of refugees in host countries.
These four countries will be supervised by the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (CHAFEA) in 2016. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)