EU Urged to U-Turn on Humanitarian Aid Amid Refugee Crisis

The European Union is being urged to change its policy on humanitarian aid - which currently focuses on countries outside the EU states - and provide urgent assistance to its own countries in what the UN refugee agency UNHCR is a "self-inflicted" humanitarian crisis.

The EU currently has a policy of only providing humanitarian aid to countries outside the union, but the current refugee crisis — which has seen hundreds of thousands of people stranded all over Europe after EU member states argue over how to respond to it — has brought calls for it to declare a humanitarian disaster within its own boundaries.

UN refugee agency UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told reporters:

"Europe is on the cusp of a largely self-induced humanitarian crisis. The crowded conditions are leading to shortages of food, shelter, water and sanitation. Tensions have been building, fueling violence and playing into the hands of people smugglers."

Today the College of Commissioners adopted my proposal for emergency support for humanitarian needs inside the EU pic.twitter.com/dij762yFcY

— Christos Stylianides (@StylianidesEU) March 2, 2016​

The failure of EU member states to agree on a common immigration policy has brought calls from lawmakers for a U-turn on the EU's policy on only providing humanitarian aid to countries outside of the union. The president of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group in the European Parliament, Gianni Pittella, urged the Commission to create a new humanitarian assistance tool to help refugees in Europe.

"European leaders and public opinion should realize that urgent humanitarian assistance is now needed in Europe itself. The situation for many migrants that have arrived in Europe is inhumane. As our group has already urged, the EU Commission and especially the EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides, must now activate an emergency assistance instrument from Europe to Europe," Pittella said.

We proposed: EUR 700 ml for 3 yrs to cover basic necessities-food, shelter, clean water & emergency health care in overwhelmed Member States

— Christos Stylianides (@StylianidesEU) March 2, 2016​

With this proposal we are proactive. A European response-preparing today for future potential crises. Too many lives are at risk.

— Christos Stylianides (@StylianidesEU) March 2, 2016​

"The European Union must demonstrate that it can reduce the humanitarian suffering of refugees by providing basic necessities: shelter, healthcare and food. This is a priority not just as Europeans but as human beings!"

'Lost Opportunities'

S&D Group vice-president Enrique Guerrero Salom said: "Every time a human being is left behind and vulnerable, lives are lost and opportunities for the future diminish. We must recognize people's right to live in safety, dignity and with the prospect of controlling their own destinies.

"The European Union can and must do more to protect civilians displaced by war. We urge a determined effort to overcome the immediate humanitarian crisis by providing emergency support within the Union, not in the next few months but in the next few days."

Although the EU does no currently provide humanitarian aid within the EU, it invoked the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for help in coping with an increased refugee influx several times in 2015. Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia and Greece have received material assistance such as winterized tents, beds and blankets from the Mechanism participating countries to help them better cope with the arrival of refugees and asylum seekers.

"For the first time we [will] mobilize resources, legislation and money that will enable Europe to act and within the EU, not only in crises in the Third World," Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas told a European Parliament gathering March 1.