EUROPEAN COMMISSION PROVIDES ADDITIONAL €6.1 M IN EMERGENCY FUNDING TO SUPPORT MIGRATION MANAGEMENT IN BULGARIA

The European Commission has awarded an additional €6.1 million in emergency funding to support migration management in Bulgaria, the EC announced on 6th of February.

The funds are aimed to cover expenses associated with migration.

€3.6 million will be provided to enhance the protection of unaccompanied children, carry out voluntary returns and provide reintegration support as well as assistance, information and counselling to migrants. An additional €2,5 million will be provided to complement the actions already implemented by the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior in order to improve migration management and the Bulgarian asylum system.

EC notes that the funds will be managed by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). The announcement says that the award decisions complement the EU funding granted to Bulgaria since October 2016, which amounted to a total of €149 million under AMIF and the Internal Security Fund (ISF). The emergency funding comes on top of the €91 million already allocated to Bulgaria under the national programmes for 2014-2020.