The European Commission has today awarded an extra €11 million in emergency funding to Greece and Italy under the Internal Security Fund (ISF) to strengthen the reception and registration capacity in Greece and support search and rescue activities by Italy at sea. €7.3 million is awarded to the Greek Reception and Identification Service to strengthen the capacity of reception and medical services in Greece and in particular in the Aegean Islands. An extra €500,000 is awarded to improve the water supply network and sewage system connection at the Reception and Identification Centre in Samos. With this extra funding, the emergency assistance awarded for activities in Greece adds up to around €353 million since the start of 2015. This emergency funding comes on top of the €509 million already allocated to Greece under the national programmes for 2014-2020 (€294.5 million from AMIF and €214.7 million from ISF). €2.2 million is awarded to the Italian Coast Guard and will support search and rescue activities at sea. In particular, the funding will support the on-board provision of food for rescued migrants and will help finance costs for personnel operating on naval assets and in the operational coordination centres. In addition, €1 million is awarded to the Italian Navy to support the purchase of equipment and protective clothing, in order to deal safely with the medical screening of migrants after their rescue at sea. These measures bring the total emergency assistance awarded by the Commission under AMIF and ISF since 2015 to support the Italian authorities as well as international organisations operating in Italy to €24.5 million. This comes on top of the €592.6 million already allocated to Italy under the national programmes for 2014-2020 (€347.7 million from AMIF and €244.9 million from ISF). (For more information: Natasha Bertaud – Tel.: +32 229 67456; Tove Ernst – Tel.: +32 229 86764; Tim McPhie – Tel.: +32 229 58602; Markus Lammert – Tel.: +32 229 80423)
