Photo: AECID
The Diplomat. 23/08/2018
The Coordinator of NGDO of Spain has denounced the increase in humanitarian crises in the world and the persecution and criminalization of people engaged in humanitarian tasks, «as rescue entities of migrants”, while claiming to Spain to increase the budget line allocated to these tasks.
Spanish humanitarian aid represents 19 million euros in the General State Budget 2018, only two million more than the previous year, according to the Coordinator said on the occasion of the celebration, this past Sunday, of the International Day of Humanitarian Action, created by the UN General Assembly in December 2008.
Ten years ago, the funds destined for this departure were 350 million, it continued. Therefore, the NGDOs require that Spain allocate at least 10% of the Official Development Assistance to humanitarian action, which in turn should amount to 0.4% of the Gross National Income at the end of this term.
According to the data of the UN, cited by the Coordinator, some 136 million people need humanitarian assistance and protection in the world, 5% more than in 2017. Likewise, in 2017 there were 158 serious incidents of violence against humanitarian operations in 22 countries.
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They denounce the death of migrants in the Mediterranean after the closing of the Italian ports
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These attacks affected 313 humanitarian workers, 139 of whom died. This is the second highest figure since 2013, when 156 were killed. Among the victims, the majority were local staff (285 nationals and 28 expatriates).
In addition, more than 44,500 people were forced to leave their homes every day in 2017. As a result, the number of forced displaced persons in the world has reached 68.5 million, an increase of 50% compared to ten years ago, according to UNHCR data.
In these circumstances, more than 1,500 people have drowned in the Mediterranean so far in 2018, despite the fact that the number of arrivals has fallen by almost half. Between June and July, at least 851 people lost their lives in the waters of the Central Mediterranean, 80% of all deaths recorded on this route.
These figures have coincided with the closure of the Italian ports and the decision of the European Union to cede the coordination of the ransoms to the Libyan coastguards. Therefore, the Coordinator has called on the EU and its states to comply with international agreements on human rights and assume «the task of rescue and reception of migrants, and to end» the agreements on border externalization with third countries, especially those in which there is evidence of serious violations of human rights».
