Vol. 445 No. 9
85 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs in view of the continuing conflict in the former Yugoslavia, if he will urge the EU to provide increased medical and humanitarian aid for internal refugees; if he will also urge EU countries to liberalise asylum regulations in order to facilitate the taking of refugees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1426/94]
The European Union and its member states have been the main contributors to the international relief operation, providing over 690 million ECU since the start of the conflict in 1991. Sixty-five per cent of the aid administration by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been provided by the European Union and its member states. This year alone the EU has contributed almost US$65 million in cash and in kind to the UN joint agencies appeal, more than half of the total donated. The EU and its member states have also made national contributions to intergovernmental agencies and NGOs.
I am satisfied that humanitarian needs are being met at present. I will, with my EU colleagues, work to ensure that adequate food and medical aid is available as winter approaches.
EU member states have also responded with great sensitivity and generosity to the plight of refugees and displaced persons from the former Yugoslavia. They decided in 1992 to provide temporary admission to particularly vulnerable persons, in addition to the normal procedures for political asylum. According to information supplied by the UNHCR, EU member states have offered temporary protection to some 12,350 cases out of a total of 26,850 processed. Of the 1,367 patients who have benefited from the programme of medical evacuation organised by the UNHCR and International Organisation for Migration, 547 have been given treatment in EU countries, including 35 in Ireland.
Given the flexible approach that the EU has adopted, I do not see a need to amend long-established asylum procedures for asylum, which are governed by international humanitarian law, in order to meet the particular circumstances of the former Yugoslavia.
