04/08/2022 07:56
The European Commission has announced it will be funding new projects to support reception, asylum and return systems in Cyprus, Italy, Spain, Greece, and Poland.
The total funding for all countries amounts to 171 million euro and will be directed to projects related to their reception, asylum and return systems, and is intended for national authorities as well as international organisations.
The support to Cyprus will go to the construction of an accommodation and pre-departure centres in the Menoyia area, in Larnaka.
The projects to be funded were selected through a competitive call launched in the beginning of 2022 to fund projects in Member States under pressure, under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, according to the Commission’s press release.
The financial support to international organisations in Greece will contribute to improving the quality of protection assistance to asylum seekers hosted within the reception system. It will have a particular focus on individualized management of people being in a situation of vulnerability, as well as on providing support for education to the school-aged refugee children in Greece.
In Spain, it will be dedicated to the reinforcement of the capacity of the reception system in Ceuta and in Canary Islands, contributing to mitigate their reception capacity overload stemming from the increased migratory pressure.
The project of Italy will focus on strengthening the capacity of the reception system from arrival to all phases of reception, to protect and care for the most vulnerable refugee children and women.
The award to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Poland will focus on strengthening a rights-based and protection sensitive approach to the provision of direct assistance and improving return procedures.
New calls might be programmed under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) budget 2023, according to the Commission.