N-VA supports European aid fund for refugee shelter

The European Commission has proposed a new European aid fund. This must allow rapid extension of emergency aid to member states faced with a large influx of asylum seekers which, like Greece, they are unable to handle on their own. The coming three years, a total of 700 million will be made available from the current EU budget. Those means can be used for humanitarian emergency aid by means of food, medication, tents and other materials. “This is a new step in the right direction,” European Parliament member Sander Loones states, “but more is still needed to achieve a true comprehensive solution. For example, Europe must apply a strong repatriation policy with push-backs, set strict maximum limits on the number of asylum seekers that it can take in, and put a strong focus where it should be: on shelter in the own regions.”

“It has been clear for some time that Greece cannot cope with the influx of refugees, and is not taking any responsibility to limit it. Now that for all intents and purposes, the border with Macedonia is closed, and Greece can no longer forward the asylum seekers to Western Europe, it appears that the Greeks themselves are now willing to acknowledge their faults,” Sander Loones continues. “First they had to accept that other European Member States took over their border control, and now in addition they will also have to give up control of part of their asylum shelter. This new plan proves that when member states do not fulfil their obligations, it is absolutely necessary to point this out to them and also force them to make a choice.”

Limiting the influx

European Parliament member Helga Stevens notes that this is the first time the EU activates an instrument for humanitarian aid within its European borders. “This plan is added to the resources that Europe has already made available via the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and the Internal Security Fund, of which Greece and Italy currently already receive the lion’s share. This is also added to the European programme to provide material assistance to certain member states. In fact all of this can be seen as an investment in order to limit the influx, and hopefully also to reduce the total costs of this asylum crisis.”