By IPS Correspondents
BRUSSELS, Jul 28 2006 (IPS)

The European Commission has launched a two-pronged Middle East initiative: to fund evacuation of developing country nationals in Lebanon, and help out salary-starved Palestinian health workers.

The Commission (EC) – the executive arm of the 25-nation European Union (EU) – has allocated 11 million euros (14 million dollars) to help repatriate some 10,000 developing country nationals living in Lebanon.

The decision comes in response to an appeal made by developing countries which do not have the means to support their citizens’ evacuation, the EC said in a media release.

At the start of the armed conflict two weeks ago, there were between 100,000 and 200,000 workers from developing countries living in Lebanon. The largest groups are from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Ethiopia and Bangladesh, followed by significant numbers from Ghana, Vietnam and Nepal – and a few from Eastern Europe and Russia.

Most developing country nationals have so far been evacuated through Syria, Jordan and Cyprus, which have only limited capacity to support evacuees. Given the size of the migrant population in Lebanon, the European Commission is of the view that the number of people who want to return home may grow substantially in the near future.

This, it cautions, will place an increasing burden on surrounding countries. By supporting transit countries fulfil the basic needs of evacuees, the programme is expected to reduce the potentially destabilising effect a large flow of evacuees may have on the region, and help ensure that routes remain open for current and future evacuation.

– Evacuate people by land and by sea to neighbouring countries

– Help meet the basic living needs of evacuees in transit countries; assist evacuees in returning home; help make the necessary arrangements for evacuees to return home

– Provide medical assistance to evacuees through IOM doctors and nurses; refer evacuees to local health care services for care and medical escort, or to medical evacuation when assistance cannot be provided inside Lebanon or transit countries

The programme is being funded through the Rapid Reaction Mechanism set up by the Directorate General (DG) External Relations. The mechanism forms part of a wider EU response to the crisis in Lebanon. This includes 20 million euros already committed for relief activities in Lebanon.

The Commission is also proposing allocation of further substantial humanitarian support, drawing on the emergency reserve of the EC budget.

Since the approval of the budget authority – European Parliament and Council of Ministers – is required for this, the Commission is moving quickly to submit a formal request for the funds to be released, a Commission spokesperson pointed out, adding that the aim was to increase the overall amount available to 50 million euros.

The funds, managed by the Commission’s Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO), will cover a range of urgent relief activities including the provision of emergency supplies for displaced people, and medical assistance.

Explaining the rationale behind EC support, Louis Michel, commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, said: “In Lebanon, from a humanitarian standpoint, we are witnessing a tragic, downward spiral. We already have a crisis with rapidly growing unmet needs.”

The Commission’s implementing partners for the new decision are expected to include the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), several United Nations humanitarian agencies and a number of experienced NGOs already working in Lebanon.

The Commission announced Jul. 27 that it was also going ahead with the first payments to Palestinian health workers under the Temporary International Mechanism (TIM). Due to the financial crisis in the Palestinian Authority, public sector workers such as medical doctors and nurses have only been paid about one month’s salary over the last five months.

The announcement was made during the visit to Gaza by commissioner for external relations and European neighbourhood policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner..

The allowances from the TIM will not match the level of their regular salaries but will enable health workers to continue performing essential services.

This is an additional action under the TIM resulting from the European Commission’s deliveries of fuel for hospital generators, water pumps and water treatment plants following the destruction by Israel of six transformers of the Gaza power plant.

The delivery of fuel has allowed the continued provision of essential health services to over 90,000 patients and access to water for some 1.2 million people in Gaza, the Commission said.

During her visit to Gaza Jul. 27, Ferrero-Waldner said: “By paying social allowances to frontline health workers, we are keeping an essential service going, that is of direct benefit to the whole Palestinian population.”

The EC said in a media release that in paying allowances to Palestinians doctors and nurses, the European Commission was not assuming the responsibilities of an employer. “The payments that are being made are modest, and intended only to provide a basic safety net to enable people to carry on working,” the release pointed out.

The intention is to support up to 13,000 workers.

The TIM, developed by the EU at the request of the ‘Middle East Quartet’ – comprising the EU, the United States, the United Nations and Russia – has three “windows” covering the health sector, utilities and social allowances.

The Commission has allocated about 100 million euros to the TIM bringing the total made available from the EC Budget so far this year to the Palestinian Territory to 329 million euros (419 million dollars).

The Commission affirmed Jul. 17 it was providing a 20 million euros aid package to bring food assistance to the most vulnerable Palestinians. The package includes 15 million euros channelled through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to provide food and cash subsidies to Palestinian refugees registered as special hardship cases.

The UNWRA provides basic relief, social, education and health services to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In September 2005, the refugee population numbered around 4.4 million.

Another 5 million euros, through the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), will help to meet basic food requirements for people deprived of their main source of livelihood.

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