The European Commission met in Brussels on Friday 21 March to discuss the Iraqi crisis, with particular reference to the humanitarian aspects. The Commission decided, in this regard, to allocate, through its Office of humanitarian aid (Echo), at least 100 million euros for the civilian victims of the conflict. “We have already announced the sending in the near future of 21 million euros and intend to allocate a further 79 from the reserve fund for emergencies”, explained president Romano Prodi on 26 March, specifying that “the first 3 million, as emergency relief, have already been made available through the international Committee of the Red Cross”. There are already 75,000 displaced persons from the North of Iraq. “We all remember the terrible images of twelve years ago, when tens of thousands of civilians wandered among the mountains devoid of food and shelter. At the present time there is a risk of even more massive displacements of population”; hence the need to “act rapidly”, commented the European Commissioner for development and humanitarian aid Poul Nielson. Food packs, blankets, cooking equipment, tents, stoves, foodstuffs for hospitals, and the rental of an airplane for humanitarian operations, are the objectives of the intervention.
