EU launches emergency refugee aid scheme for Greece
The European Union, faced with a growing refugee crisis in Greece, launched a new aid program on March 2 worth an initial 700 million euros that mirrors the kind of disaster relief it offers developing nations.
European states have tightened border controls following the arrival of more than a million migrants by sea last year and the Athens government has appealed for help to house and care for tens of thousands still arriving and now stranded in Greece.
"We are ... really worried," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said of the build-up of migrants on the now-closed Macedonian border, adding that the new plan had been prompted by fears of "a huge humanitarian crisis in Greece".
The Commission's proposal, if approved, will channel 300 million euros (US$325 million) this year from its 155 billion euro annual budget to the new emergency assistance scheme and 200 million euros both next year and in 2018.
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Officials stress that the program will not divert funds from the EU's 1.1 billion euro annual budget allocated to helping the world's poorest.
Relieving the suffering of refugees closer to their homes is a key part of an EU strategy to deter people from making dangerous journeys to Europe, they say.
More than 400 people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean this year as they tried to reach Europe, most of them on the short but perilous crossing from Turkey to Greece.
Turkey is at the heart of the EU's efforts to slow the influx of refugees and migrants and the bloc wants Ankara to ensure that daily arrivals fall below 1,000 from 2,000-3,000 at present.
