The European Commission has awarded €35 million to Sweden, €8 million to Finland and €5 million to Belgium in emergency funding to support these countries in managing the high influx of asylum seekers. The funding comes from the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF).
In all three cases, the funding will be used to address the immediate needs of asylum seekers, mainly for accommodation and provision of food. This brings the overall amount of emergency funding awarded to EU Member States this year to over €222 million (from both the AMIF and ISF emergency funds).
The Commission’s emergency funding comes on top of the basic allocations under the AMIF national programme, where Sweden will receive € 118.5 million, Finland will receive €23.48 million and Belgium will receive € 89.25 million to finance migration related actions in 2014-20.
The provision of emergency assistance under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the Internal Security Fund – Borders and Visa (ISF-B) is part of the Commission’s overall efforts to implement the principle of solidarity through concrete and effective actions addressing urgent and specific needs of Member States facing high asylum and migratory pressure.
