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EU: MED CRISIS: Billion-euro budgets to be distributed to Member States; plus latest news reports
12 August 2015
The European Commission has announced the approval of 23 more national programmes for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and the Internal Security Fund, paving the way for the release of up to €2.4 billion to Member States to "improve migration management, foster cooperation and make Europe safer".
Seven of the 23 newly-approved national programmes deal with the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and 16 with the Internal Security Fund (ISF). The ISF has two components - ISF-Borders and ISF-Police, but Member States submit a single plan covering both budgets to the Commission.
The Commission's press release says:
"The AMIF funding supports national efforts to improve reception capacities, ensure that asylum procedures are in line with Union standards, integrate migrants at local and regional levels and increase the effectiveness of return programmes.Funding from ISF complements national efforts to improve Member States' border management and surveillance (in particular through the use of modern technologies). ISF funding is also used for cross-border law enforcement cooperation and strengthens Member States' capacity to effectively manage security-related risks such as terrorism and violent radicalisation, drug trafficking, cybercrime, trafficking in human beings, and other forms of organised crime."
This is the second round of approvals this year. In March 2015 17 national AMIF plans were given the green light, along with 5 ISF plans. There are now 13 remaining to be approved later this year.
For more details (including a table showing how much each Member State will receive), see the European Commission's press release:
Managing migration and financing a safer and more secure Europe: €2.4 billion to support Member States (10 August, pdf)
And for background and more context, see:
Billions of euros for internal security and migration policy (Statewatch News Online, March 2015)
There has also been some news coverage of the approval of the plans:
BULGARIA: EC grants Bulgaria 73M euro for border security, managing migration (The Sofia Globe, link)
CYPRUS: EU allocates €74.9 million to Cyprus for migration (Cyprus Mail, link)
GREECE: European Commission Approves 473 Million Euros to Greece for Migration Crisis (Greek Reporter, link)
LUXEMBOURG: 7.5 million euros to improve Luxembourg refugee facilities (Luxemburger Wort, link)
MALTA: Patrol vessel, helicopter, patrol aircraft to be procured through internal security fund (Times of Malta, link)
POLAND: Poland to get EUR 69m in EU migration programmes (Radio Poland, link)
Other news: latest updates and reports from across Europe
BALKANS: Refugees race through Balkans in bid to beat Hungary fence (Al Jazeera, link)
EU: 10 truths about Europe’s migrant crisis (The Guardian, link)
FRANCE:
The Road to Calais (London Review of Books, link)
Migrants flock to tiny school built by 1 of their own (Associated Press, link)
France intercepts 100 migrants at Italian border (La Prensa, link)
GREECE:
Greek mayor warns of 'bloodshed' as police beat migrants (Yahoo News, link)
Greek police use fire extinguishers to disperse migrant crowd on Kos (The Guardian, link)
A thousand refugees locked in stadium overnight in Kos (The Guardian, link)
ITALY:
Testimoni: "Nuovo naufragio di migranti al largo della Libia" [Witness: new migrant shipwreck off Libya] (Rai News, link)
Migrants rescued by Italy say up to 50 missing after boat sinks (Reuters, link)
Italy Reports Rescue of Over 1,500 Migrants in 24 Hours (Prensa Latina, link)
POLAND: Poland's pledge to accept 2,000 migrants sparks debate (Al Jazeera, link)
SPAIN-MOROCCO: La devolución inmediata de un inmigrante herido deja sin pruebas la investigación contra 8 guardias civiles [Immediate return of injured migrant leaves investigation into 8 officers without evidence] (El Diario, link)
UK: British ship sent on Mediterranean migrant mission has not rescued a single person (The Independent, link)