While MEPs welcomed on Tuesday 16 April in Strasbourg the European Union's humanitarian aid to the victims of Cyclone Idai, which devastated Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, many called for much more to be done given the scale of the disaster, some even calling European aid a “drop in the ocean”.
The Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides, recalled that the EU had “reacted only a few hours after the cyclone by freeing up €3.5 million for access to air services in areas cut off from the world where access is difficult to obtain in order to provide food and purification equipment”. As of 9 April, humanitarian aid totalled €15 million.
In addition, European teams of epidemiological and hydrological experts have been deployed to carry out assessments and help cope with the cholera epidemic, as well as teams from the Member States, still on the ground. Fifty-seven Copernicus satellite maps were provided at the request of the three countries. And more than €4 million in aid has been provided by nine countries (Portugal, France, Spain, Austria, United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy, Denmark) through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the Commissioner said.
“The European Union will do everything in its power to support long-term reconstruction in the three affected countries”, the Commissioner promised.
Speaking of “tragedy in already poor countries”, Paulo Rangel (EPP, Portugal) said that the EU's initial reaction had been late: “This is unacceptable. The EU should have done more. Now it’s doing the right thing”.
Climate refugees. Acknowledging to all that, “even if there was a shaky start”, Enrique Guerrero Salom (S&D, Spain) stressed that the scale of the disaster required a global response. He expressed the hope that “the next legislature will make progress in the legislation on the status of climate refugees”, so that these people can be welcomed and recognised.
On the same line, Bodil Valero (Greens/EFA, Sweden) called for “discussing the consequences of our emissions in other parts of the world”. Recalling that Mozambique faces floods, cyclones and hunger, and that people living in low-lying areas had to flee already in the 1990s, she stressed the need to “prevent, help poor countries adapt to the climate paradigm” and to come up with a long-term solution.
More than 200,000 homes destroyed or flooded, more than a thousand cases of cholera reported, malaria returning, destruction of fields and risk of increased food insecurity: on behalf of the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council, Secretary of State Melania-Gabriela Ciot painted a bleak picture of the situation.
She assured that the Presidency is in consultation with the Member States and the Commission to ensure the best possible implementation of this humanitarian assistance. The priorities, she said, are to help separated families, women and children who are victims of sexual violence and the return of children to school. “A post-disaster assessment will identify what resources can be mobilised for the future”, she said. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)