The European Commission approved last week a further allocation of 4 million euros to support and reinforce programmes for the protection of refugees run by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The sum will be primarily used to improve rapid reaction capacity in response to emergencies: it is estimated that some 500,000 refugees in various areas of the world could be the direct beneficiaries of EU aid (at the present time the UNHCR provides physical and legal protection to 19 million “interested persons” of whom just over nine are refugees). During a press conference, the European Commissioner for Development Louis Michel declared that the Executive’s objective is “ensure that the questions of protection be properly tackled already in the refugee camps, and that the rights of refugees be respected in conformity with the Geneva Convention”.
