Summary: February 21, 2002: Commission gives a further €1.6 million in humanitarian aid to vulnerable refugees in Serbia (Brussels)
The European Commission, through its Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) has allocated €1.6 million to alleviate the difficult living conditions of the most vulnerable refugees in Serbia. The beneficiaries will be those vulnerable refugees hosted in private accommodation and in collective centers. This assistance will focus on a quarterly distribution of hygiene parcels. The parcels will be supplied to refugees through international NGOs, in two distributions over the next six months. The Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia) is still host to the largest refugee population in Europe, with over 375,000 refugees according to 2001 UNHCR figures. Employment prospects for the refugees are very bleak, and most survive thanks to humanitarian assistance and to seasonal jobs in the informal economy. Today, only 6% of the refugee population has declared a firm intention to return to Croatia and Bosnia while the living conditions of the poor in Serbia have worsened. In 2001, ECHO assistance to
Serbia amounted to almost €48 million, and was concentrated mainly on the provision of basic assistance to refugees, IDPs and vulnerable people among the local population, support to the health sector, shelter, repatriation and psycho-social support. The present decision will be complemented by a global plan for Serbia to be adopted later in the year.
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