The European Union (EU) member states plan to eventually take in as many as 10,000 Iraqi refugees, in an effort to meet the resettlement target set out by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), EU home and justice ministers said on Thursday.
At their two-day meeting in Brussels, which opened Thursday, the ministers welcomed the fact that some member states are already receiving Iraqi refugees, particularly under their national resettlement programs, and encouraged more member states to follow suit, especially to accept those in a particularly vulnerable situation such as those with particular medical needs, trauma or torture victims, members of religious minorities or women on their own with family responsibilities.
"This has to be done on a voluntary basis and in the light of the reception capacities of member states and the overall effort already made in terms of taking in of refugees," the ministers added in a statement.
They called on EU member states to cooperate closely with UNHCR and the other competent organizations present in the region when they take in Iraqi refugees, bearing in mind the importance of promoting reconciliation between Iraqi communities in Iraq.
The EU plans to use the European Refugee Fund to provide financial support for refugees resettlement projects, and member states have until Dec. 19, 2008 to indicate on their intentions with a view to calculating the allocation of the funding for 2009.
On Nov. 1-6, a European Commission delegation went to Syria and Jordan to assess, together with the UNHCR, the situation of the most vulnerable Iraqi refugees in those countries, and to examine the possibilities for resettlement in EU member states willing to receive them.
The EU ministers stressed that the main objective for the resettlement projects in EU member states is to create the conditions in which displaced persons inside Iraq and refugees in neighboring countries can return safely to their homes, while ensuring that the human rights of all Iraqis are protected and defended.
"Return to Iraq is thought to be the only eventual solution for the great majority of Iraqi refugees," they added.
Source:Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article