IP/06/1103
Brussels/Beirut, 16 August 2006
Louis Michel: "Humanitarian crisis in Lebanon continues" Although the fighting has stopped, victims of the conflict in Lebanon still face urgent humanitarian needs. They lack basic essentials such as food, medicines, fuel and electricity while key infrastructures including roads and houses have been destroyed. Displaced people have begun to return to their home cities and villages in huge numbers. They will face enormous challenges. So will those who provide relief. Commissioner Louis Michel, responsible for Development and Humanitarian Aid, spoke in Beirut with victims of the conflict and humanitarian aid workers as well as with the Lebanese government, including Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. The Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Paula Lehtomaki, representing the EU Presidency, accompanied Mr Michel. The European Union is the largest donor of official humanitarian aid to the victims of the conflict in Lebanon, and during his visit Commissioner Michel announced the opening of a permanent ECHO office in Beirut. After their visit to Lebanon, Commissioner Michel and Minister Lehtomaki go directly to Tel Aviv today to meet with members of the Israeli government and to visit victims of Hezbollah attacks in a hospital in Haifa on Thursday. Louis Michel said: “Lebanon is still in an emergency situation. I urge Israel to end immediately its blockade so that urgently needed relief can reach the people. The destruction of infrastructure such as roads and bridges makes the supply of emergency aid difficult enough already. I also urge Israel to provide all remaining maps of land mines in Lebanon. The displaced people who return to South Lebanon are not just faced with destruction, a lack of basic essentials and unemployment due to the destroyed infrastructure. They are also returning to a dangerous environment where unexploded ammunition and land mines can cause great harm especially to children at play. In this context, I call again for respect of international humanitarian law.”
The European Commission has mobilised urgent emergency humanitarian funding worth €20 million, covering shelter, food, basic household items, health, water/sanitation, psycho-social support, protection and coordination of relief operations. The funds are managed by the Commission’s Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO). Commissioner Michel announced the establishment of a permanent ECHO office in Beirut, where ECHO experts, dispatched from all over the world, have been working since the first week of the conflict. They monitor and help relief agencies implementing humanitarian projects. The Commission is currently working with a dozen humanitarian organizations in Lebanon, UN agencies, non-governmental relief organizations and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Commissioner Michel stressed: “The situation, in particular in Southern Lebanon and in parts of Beirut, remains critical. Some parts of the Lebanese capital and the houses of thousands of its inhabitants are severely damaged and destroyed. The massive return of displaced people to the south and the existence of so many of basic humanitarian needs creates huge challenges for relief operators. €14.9 million of the original €20 million we provided in humanitarian aid have already been contracted to our partner relief agencies. The Commission has asked the European Parliament and Council to increase its emergency response to €50 million, drawing on the emergency reserve of the EC budget. A detailed assessment of the concrete needs is necessary to deal with the rapidly changing situation and the massive return of displaced people. One thing is obvious; the additional funds are urgently needed to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon during this transition period before reconstruction gets fully under way.”
In Lebanon, Commissioner Michel and Minister Lehtomaki met with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Social Affairs Minister, Nayla Mouawad, and the coordinator of the Lebanese High Relief Committee, Nabil Jisr. They also paid their respects at the mausoleum of Rafik Hariri, the former Prime Minister of Lebanon who was assassinated in February 2005. In Tel Aviv, the two EU representatives will meet Tzipi Livni, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shimon Peres, Vice Premier and Minister for the Development of the Negev and Galilee, and Amir Peretz, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence.
