BRUSSELS: The EU on Wednesday proposed 700 million euros in emergency aid for Greece and other states as it began to tackle the migrant crisis within its borders like humanitarian disasters in developing countries.
The United Nations has warned of a looming humanitarian crisis as thousands of people remained stuck in miserable winter conditions on the Greece-Macedonia border after Balkans states and Austria capped the numbers arriving.
Greece has been the main point of entry for the 1.13 million migrants who have arrived since the start of 2015 in the European Union, which has been divided and weakened by its biggest migration crisis since World War II.
“No time can be lost in deploying all means possible to prevent humanitarian suffering within our own borders,” EU Humanitarian Aid
Commissioner Christos Stylianides said, adding that much of the help would go to Greece.
The funds would be allocated over three years, with 300 million euros ($325 million) in 2016, and 200 million euros in each of the following years under the plan, which must be approved by a majority of member states and the European Parliament.
Athens has asked for around 480 million euros ($520 million) to help shelter 100,000 refugees.
