The European Commission has awarded an extra €82.6 million ($90.6 million) in emergency funding to Greece under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and the Internal Security Fund.
Through AMIF, emergency funding of €24.2 million is awarded to the Greek Ministry of Health, for increasing the capacity to provide primary health care to migrants and refugees, ToronosNews reported.
It aims to provide primary health care services (medical and psychosocial services) at refugee accommodation centers, and to strengthen the capacity of the public health system and epidemiological surveillance structures.
In addition, €58.4 million are awarded to the Greek Ministry of Defense to provide migrants with urgent shelter, accommodation, catering, health care and transportation. These activities are to be funded on the Greek mainland with €52.2 million provided by AMIF, while €6.2 million is awarded for support in the hotspots through the ISF.
These new emergency assistance grants follow similar awards made earlier in 2016 which covered the needs between February and July. With this extra funding, the emergency assistance awarded for activities in Greece reaches €345 million since the start of 2015, including support to Greek authorities, EU agencies, international organizations and NGOs. This emergency funding comes on top of the €509 million already allocated to Greece under the national programs for 2014-2020.
