BRUSSELS – The European Union has doubled the emergency aid to frontline member states Italy, Greece and Malta, which have to deal with the massive influx of migrants coming across the Mediterranean to $54 million a year.
EU Commission spokeswoman Natasha Berthaud said “the entire emergency fund is doubling” following an agreement at Thursday’s EU summit where leaders also pledged ships, aircraft and equipment to save lives in the Mediterranean after the deaths at sea of more than 1,300 migrants over the past three weeks.
The funds can be used for reception centers for migrants, medical aid or additional staff to deal with the influx. It is part of an overall EU fund for migration and asylum issues.
At Thursday’s summit, the leaders also agreed to triple funding to $9.7 million a month for the EU’s border operation patrolling the Mediterranean.
At the same time, Bertaud said the EU border agency Frontex is to send its ships further into the Mediterranean Sea in response to the deadly exodus from Libya.
EU leaders on Thursday pledged to double the size of Frontex’s Triton mission and triple its budget but refused to allow it to do active search and rescue work.
Actress Angelina Jolie, a special envoy for the United Nations on refugee issues, told the UN Security Council on Friday that “it is sickening to see thousands of refugees drowning on the doorstep of the world’s wealthiest continent.”
“No one risks the lives of their children in this way except out of utter desperation,” Jolie said.
Critics say Triton is ineffective in dealing with the migrant influx because its mandate restricts its border control tasks to 30 nautical miles from land and does not allow it to approach the Libyan coast.
