Refugee crisis: EU pledge over $1b to tackle challenges

Leaders of the European Union agreed early Thursday after weeks of debate to inject at least 1 billion euros (1.12 billion U.S. dollars) in response to migration crisis and to harden border controls.

The agreement came out after a seven-hour summit among the bloc’s 28 members. The huge EU funding will help refugees in the Middle East via the United Nations’ refugee agency and the World Food Program.

After the summit, European Council President Donald Tusk warned at a press conference that the continent will face more pressing migrant flow.

There are 8 million displaced people in Syria, while about 4 million have fled to Syria’s neighbors. The ever increasing number of refugees keeps weighing on the EU policy.

“We should be talking about millions of potential refugees…It is clear that the greatest tide of refugees and migrants is yet to come,” Tusk said.

On Tuesday EU members approved a proposal to relocate 120,000 migrants.

Countries including Germany and Hungary have imposed border controls to stem migrant influx, creating chaos and putting the bloc’s passport-free policy under threat.

Tusk urged “proper management and control” of the EU’s external borders.

As part of the efforts to ease the pressure of front line states, EU leaders agreed in the summit to set up refugee reception centers by the end of November.