BRUSSELS
The European Commission has announced €180 million of funding to address the crisis in Syria and its effects in Lebanon and Jordan, which is currently hosting around 1.1 million and 630,000 Syrian refugees respectively.
The move on Thursday comes after Carsten Hansen, the Norwegian Refugee Council's Director for Middle East, criticized the EU at a Committee on Development meeting at the European Parliament on November 3 for not doing enough to resettle Syrian refugees.
While Germany, Austria and Sweden announced in 2013 that all Syrians seeking asylum would be granted permanent residency, France and the UK have only resettled 500, according to Carsten.
''[The €180 million] package deals with the longer-term development needs of the refugees and internally displaced persons,'' the EU’s executive body – European Commission said in a press release.
Out of the €180 million ($222 million), €41 million will be spent on aiding people still inside Syria, €66 million will be spent on Syrian refugees and host communities in Jordan, and €73 million in Lebanon, according to the EC.
As the Syrian conflict enters its fourth year, 10.8 million people inside the country – half of the Syrian population - are in need of urgent assistance, according to the EU.
www.aa.com.tr/en
