The European Commission has announced it will offer financial support to EU Member States which have pledged a total of more than 30,000 resettlement places for refugees.
EU programmes offering support for the resettlement of refugees have provided protection for more than 65,000 refugees across the bloc since 2015. Member States’ resettlement initiatives for 2020 will receive support through the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). Programmes are expected to prioritise the resettlement of refugees from Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and countries along the busy Central Mediterranean route; as well as resettlements from Niger and Rwanda conducted through the EU’s Emergency Transit Mechanism, which directs support to refugees fleeing Libya.
Margaritis Schinas, the Commission’s Vice President for Promoting our European Way of Life, said: “Resettlement is a European success story and must remain so. The European Union’s Member States are making the largest collective pledge of resettlement places they have ever done. This makes the EU the biggest contributor to resettlement efforts worldwide – though we would hope more would follow suit and increase their pledges to match the growing needs. When we co-operate and work together, we can create durable, effective and safe systems to offer protection to the world’s most vulnerable.”
Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said: “Resettlement is a key tool in ensuring that people in need of protection do not put their lives at risk and reach the EU via safe and legal pathways. It is a key component of the comprehensive approach to migration we need to continue developing, including strong partnerships with third countries. Member States’ ambitious pledges must continue; and the EU will provide the necessary support. We cannot allow any gaps in this respect. The Commission intends to put forward a recommendation to pull together Member States’ efforts and hence make the EU voice even stronger on the global scene.”
The EU takes money from EU Tax-Payers in the form of monetary contributions – so actually it would be correct to say
** The EU Tax-Payers are paying for this ”
It always comes across as the EU has its own funds – it does not – it is EU Citizens having money diverted from being spent in their own Countries who are paying for this.