European Parliament resolution on refugees

Today the European Parliament passed a resolution (by 74-0) on refugees from Iraq. The full text is here, and the extracts as below:

The Resolution notes that "the security of third-country nationals, stateless persons and particularly the approximately 34 000 Palestinian refugees... in Iraq has drastically deteriorated, and "(1) Urges Iraq's bordering countries to abide by their legal duty immediately to admit refugees, particularly those stranded at their borders and belonging to specially targeted minorities such as stateless Palestinians... (6) Asks the Member States and the international community, as a demonstration of international burden-sharing, to contribute to the resettlement of Iraqi refugees and stateless persons, including the Palestinian refugees from Iraq stranded in the region."

At the end of the debate on the resolution, Commissioner Jan Figel told the House that an aid package of €10.2 million in humanitarian aid for victims of the Iraq crisis was being provided through the ECHO humanitarian aid office. €6.2m would be for those outside Iraq and €4m for those inside the country.