Migrant crisis: EU to unveil emergency aid plan

The European Union is preparing to spend hundreds of millions of euros on humanitarian aid, as Greece struggles to cope with an influx of migrants.
Under plans to be submitted on Wednesday, EU funds could be deployed within Europe in the same way they are used to help crises outside the bloc.
The UN has warned of a humanitarian disaster caused by a build-up of migrants on Greece’s borders.
Thousands of asylum seekers remain trapped on the border with Macedonia.
The plan to be submitted by the EU’s executive body, the European Commission, means EU aid agencies would for the first time work directly with the UN and other groups inside Europe, rather than disbursing money to individual member states.
EU officials said the aid plan would allocate 300m euros (£233m; $325m) this year to help any EU state deal with the migration crisis. In all, 700m euros would be made available over three years.
However, BBC Europe correspondent Chris Morris says that even if such funding can be deployed quickly, the EU also needs to stem the flow of new arrivals. That would mean better co-operation with Turkey, he adds.

 

Read More: Migrant crisis: EU to unveil emergency aid plan – BBC News