EU increases humanitarian aid to €10m

AID for the increasingly desperate humanitarian situation in Libya is to be increased substantially, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said.

He joined in the international condemnation of Colonel Gaddafi saying it was time for him to go and give the country back to the people of Libya. “The situation we are seeing in Libya is simply outrageous. We cannot accept this,” he said.

The initial €3 million in aid is being increased to €10m, targeting mainly medical and food aid, shelter and other necessities to refugees at the Egyptian and Tunisian borders.

Humanitarian aid commissioner Kristalina Georgieva was due to visit the region last night to oversee the operation.

According to the UN, there are at least 140,000 refugees trying to flee the fighting. An estimated 75,000 people are on the Tunisian border, many stuck in freezing conditions while another 69,000 are trying to cross into Egypt.

There are reports of people from sub-Sahara Africa being refused entry to neighbouring countries.

Amnesty estimated there were more than one million refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants in Libya before the current crisis. The EU is fearful that they will try to cross the Mediterranean into countries including Italy.

The EU’s border control agency, FRONTEX and Italy are conducting a joint operation in the Mediterranean to dissuade people from trying to cross the sea.

Barroso said an additional €25m can be used for borders and refugees. He said they would use around €4 billion over the next two years helping democratic, constitutional and judicial reform and supporting civil society such as NGOs, trade unions, women organisations and the media.

The International News Safety Institute said Gaddafi forces had retaken a number of towns close to Tripoli and that the strategic town of Ajdabiyah with its large ammunition depot just 90 minutes drive from Benghazi was under attack from Gaddafi’s fighter jets.

EU leaders hold a crisis summit on Friday, March 11, to coordinate their actions over Libya. The EU has already imposed sanctions banning the supply of arms, ammunition and trade in equipment that could be used against civilians.

They also adopted a visa ban on Gaddafi’s family and some other members of his regime. Assets including bank accounts belonging to Gaddafi and his family are also being frozen.

NATO’s defence ministers will be meeting in Brussels also on Friday and are expected to discuss a possible military response.