Tiskane izdaje
Refugees and migrants are still dying on the massive scale in the Mediterranean. The extreme right is on the rise. It appears that Europe is not functioning. On the other hand - EU is still the biggest provider of humanitarian aid in the world.
How do you see the situation of the refugees who are - after the closure of the so called Balkan route and signing of the EU/Turkey deal - trapped in Greece? I visited several detention centers and some are just horrible, VIAL center in Chios for example. Don't you think that the EU/Turkey deal has even worsened the situation of the refugees - not only in Greece but also (or even more) in Turkey?
In March the situation changed drastically with the closure of the Greek/former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia border. Greece suddenly had to host tens of thousands of refugees instead of being just a short-term transit country. The Greek authorities had to rapidly provide urgent assistance and accommodate thousands of people in need on their territory. To cope with these increasing needs, the EU provided emergency support to Greece.
The EU was already providing short-term complementary emergency support under the framework of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) to international organisations and the Greek authorities to temporarily cover acute emergency humanitarian needs such as emergency shelter, food, health care.
Given the exceptional dimension of the crisis, the EU has in addition created a dedicated instrument (the Emergency Support Instrument - ESI) with a budget of up to €700 million for three years to provide humanitarian aid to the refugees in EU countries overwhelmed by the crisis.
It is worth reminding that the aim of the EU-Turkey statement that followed was to replace disorganized, chaotic, irregular and dangerous migratory flows by organized, safe and legal pathways to Europe for those entitled to international protection in line with EU and international law. The numbers of arrivals from Turkey to Greece have decreased dramatically in the last months.
With the introduction of the Facility for Refugees in Turkey in November 2015, which preceded the EU-Turkey statement of March 2016, the Commission has been able to substantially increase assistance to refugees in Turkey within a very short time. Out of a €3 billion package for 2016 and 2017 under the Facility, which is made up of funding from both the EU and Member States, €740 million has so far been allocated for both humanitarian and other types of assistance, with a view of raising the total amount to €2 billion in 2016. Funding under the Facility for Refugees in Turkey supports refugees in the country; this is funding for refugees and not funding for Turkey. Furthermore the in the EU-Turkey Joint Action Plan Turkish government has committed to improve the legal status of the refugees in Turkey, including their right to find legal work.
More Syrian refugees currently live in Lebanon than in EU, but some European countries (including the EU institutions) have created the atmosphere of huge crisis and emergency, which, in my opinion, does not exist. I can only see the crisis of Europe. How do you see the EU response to the refugee/migrant crisis?
I don't think the existence of a global refugee crisis can be questioned. The world currently has 65 million people uprooted from their homes. Of these more than 21 million are refugees outside of their countries and over 3 million are asylum-seekers. Last year over one million refugees and asylum seekers arrived in the EU. While the numbers in Europe may look small in global comparison, the sudden uncontrolled influx of so many people did put a strain on many European countries and overwhelmed their capacities to respond to the needs. The EU was and is there to help, both our Member States and neighboring countries. The European Commission has taken a comprehensive approach to tackle the refugee crisis in Europe with its European Agenda for Migration, drawing on the various tools and instruments available at the EU level and in the Member States.
The efforts are ongoing: the Commission's humanitarian and civil protection department supports refugees everywhere they are. We have massively increased our financial support to source countries of refugees like Syria and wider region, to transit countries like Turkey and to EU Member States like Greece. We are constantly developing new and innovative ways of helping refugees. For example, we are funding e-vouchers in Turkey, which is technically a debit card with which a registered refugee can buy food for their family, in this way keeping their independence, dignity and freedom of choice, and also helping the local economy.
EU refugee/migrant discourse is all about numbers and not about real, suffering people, their stories and destinies. Detention centers are growing fast, same goes for the extreme right. What is happening in Europe?
Our humanitarian aid supports millions, who of course aren't numbers but people, each with their own story. Each with their own aspirations, families and circumstances. It's not a case of simply us telling their story, but helping them tell it themselves, in their own words. And we work to do just that. Through our #Emergencylessons awareness raising campaign, refugee children, such as Malak and Raparine who were displaced by the war in Iraq and Syria, talked about how they could continue their schooling thanks to our humanitarian support. We can make a real positive difference, especially through supporting education.
And when I go to missions abroad I always meet as many people that we are trying to help as much as possible. I listen to them, I talk to them. So do my other Commissioner colleagues.
Sometimes we need to talk about numbers. Numbers are important when you have a crisis to manage. But we also communicate about individual stories and destinies to show that the crisis has a human face. And we are determined to do it more often.
What is happening in Europe on this front is very complex and in many ways difficult to address only from Brussels. Anti-immigrant populism has risen in many of our Member States. We do what we can to communicate the facts and to humanize this crisis. Only together we can solve these problems and help people in need.
Europe does care and we need a common European solution, as well as global efforts, to manage this crisis together.
EU is the biggest provider of humanitarian aid in the world. This fact is rather unknown. I have just come back from Mauritania/Mali border where horribly underfunded UN projects would be in jeopardy without the help of ECHO. Can you describe the structure of the EU humanitarian aid? How do you "choose" your priorities? What is the algorithm of the funding? And, nonetheless, why are Europeans so utterly clueless about it?
With nearly €1.1 billion as an initial allocation, the EU's 2016 budget for humanitarian aid was the EU's highest budget for life-saving relief in man-made and natural disasters to date. The initial budget is rarely also the final budget used for humanitarian aid in any given year, because it also receives reinforcements during the year, depending on the severity of different ongoing on new crises.
The allocation of this budget is a fairly complex process.
As a first step, we carry out several analyses on crises in individual regions and countries to assess their severity, the vulnerability of local communities and lack of coping capacities. As part of this process we specifically identify the so called forgotten crises - crises that receive little attention from international donors and media. We consider also other aspects such as co-ordination with other donors, volume of aid that can effectively be delivered to the people in need, security and access factors.
Based on all the above we initially allocate about 80% of the yearly budget for each country. An amount corresponding to around 20% of the initial humanitarian aid budget remains operational reserve, in order to cater for new crises, or deterioration of existing crises, during the year.
As far as the awareness of EU citizens is concerned about the role of the EU as a donor, there is always room for improvement. But I am very proud to say that the latest public opinion poll in all EU Member States showed that 9 in 10 EU citizens support the EU's funding of humanitarian aid (see Eurobarometer survey 2015 http://ec.europa.eu/echo/eurobarometer_en). I also hope that facilitating journalists visits to crisis areas such as the one that you took part in further helps raising awareness.
What are the current EU humanitarian priorities and what will be the priorities in the future?
Our priorities are always shaped by the needs of the people who are affected by crises. To bring relief to the weak ones, to all those that suffer. Of course, the final solutions can never be brought about by humanitarian response alone. Take Syria or Iraq or Afghanistan for example. We need a political solution to all these conflicts while continuing to provide vital humanitarian aid. We can of course not forget Ukraine or crises in Africa, especially in South-Sudan and Central Africa Republic. We keep in mind the needs in these countries and in the neighboring countries shouldering a large share of responsibility to help people. We need to build resilience and provide help inside those countries and their neighbors. That's for us a top priority.
And then we need to be strong as a leading humanitarian actor globally. At the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul the EU took hundred (100) individual commitments. All with the aim of improving how aid is delivered to those who need it most. One of the most important ones was our strong engagement to work with our partners on humanitarian financing which should improve our efficiency and effectiveness, give better value for our funds. Equally important are our financial commitments for education in emergencies, which is and will be one of our top priorities - providing girls and boys in emergency situations with some sense of normalcy and stability. We can of course never leave out the focus on International Humanitarian Law - access and safety of humanitarian workers is essential in today's more and more complex crisis.
Does anything like solidarity exist in Europe?
Of course it does! I am saying this as a politician and as a proud European. European solidarity exists on all levels and comes in all shapes and forms. Thousands of volunteers have welcomed, helped and supported refugees over the past year, not only in Greece but throughout Europe. European solidarity has been tangible on the ground. Through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, which is coordinated by the European Commission, 23 EU Member states plus Norway have made available tons of material assistance such as tents, beds or blankets in response to the refugee crisis. The European Union has provided substantial funding to cover acute humanitarian needs such as emergency shelter, food and health care alongside long-term funding to the countries dealing with an increased influx of refugees to better respond to the crisis.
What I see on the field is people doing what the state(s) should be doing, essentially privatizing the humanism and also humanitarianism. Especially in Greece!
The response of the Greek people has been extraordinary. They were amongst the first responders and have reacted exemplarily. I can only commend their generosity towards the refugees: it is an example to us all. And one thing is clear: Greece and its people are not alone in these difficult times.
Greece remains the main point of entry for many refugees and this is placing a huge burden on the country, overstretching its financial and administrative capacities. The EU is at the forefront of tackling the needs of refugees supporting Greece. We are working in close consultation and coordination with the authorities. The current EU-funding is helping address the most urgent humanitarian needs, such as food, shelter and medicine, helping more than 55.000 refugees and migrants hosted in over 30 sites in Greece,
The European Commission is assisting the Greek authorities in managing the humanitarian situation on the ground, as efficiently as possible and for as long as it takes.
In Greece, as in many other countries facing a major humanitarian challenge, international NGOs and UN organizations are providing assistance and expertise in dealing with the crisis. They bring decades of experience in working with refugees and displaced persons and work based on internationally recognized humanitarian principles. This is not "privatizing" humanitarianism but providing support and complementing the work of the official ministries and government bodies.
More than 10.000 refugees and migrants died on their way to Europe since 2010; more than 25.000 since the year 2000. But "Mare Nostrum", the Mediterranean, is still a mass grave - Mare Mortum. There is no visible humanist solution in sight. How do you see the future?
We are doing all that we can in the Mediterranean. We have reinforced our efforts to save lives and provide humanitarian assistance to people affected by this crisis. We tripled our resources for search and rescue operations at sea last year, contributed to saving more than 240,000 people in the Mediterranean and we are disrupting criminal smuggling networks through Frontex joint operations, EUNAVFOR Med Operation Sophia and cooperation in the Aegean with the Turkish authorities and NATO. Some days we save 2-3 thousand people close to the Libyan coast.
But my job as humanitarian aid commissioner is to help people in need, wherever they are, be that in Turkey, Libya, or at home in Syria, Afghanistan or South Sudan.
The long term solutions can only be political. Diplomacy needs to work, conflicts need to be stopped. EU humanitarian aid can only do so much, and it is not a migration management tool. Its aim is to provide urgently needed assistance to men, women and children who have fled conflict and sought refuge in Europe.
I also look forward to the UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants, which will be held in New York on 19 September. I call on all partners to strengthen the international framework for refugee protection and resettlement through global responsibility-sharing and solidarity.
