Thousands of migrants fleeing from West and Central Africa are at risk as critical funding from the European Union for humanitarian operations comes to an end, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a press release from Dakar on Monday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th December, 2020) Thousands of migrants fleeing from West and Central Africa are at risk as critical funding from the European Union for humanitarian operations comes to an end, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a press release from Dakar on Monday.
"The International Organization for Migration is appealing for 100 million Euros ($121 million) to continue providing urgent protection and critical assistance to vulnerable migrants from West and Central Africa along the Central and Western Mediterranean routes, as funding under the EU Trust Fund (EUTF) comes to an end," the release said.
IOM Director General Antonio Vitorino said in the release that the end of the program and the funding shortfall raise deep concerns about the fates of tens of thousands of vulnerable men, women and children.
"Through the EU-IOM Joint Initiative, we have been able to assist over 100,000 migrants who might otherwise have been left in conditions of great peril; in detention centers, stranded and left for dead in deserts, or living in extremely difficult environments conducive to trafficking and smuggling," Vitorino said.
Launched in December 2016, under the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration involves 26 African countries in the Sahel and Lake Chad regions, the Horn of Africa and North Africa. Since its launch, 77,000 West and Central Africa nationals have been helped, the release said.
