Britain announces £11 million funding for Start to support for refugees arriving in Europe in Winter

Funding will provide additional winter help to migrants and refugees who have already travelled to Europe, and boost infrastructure and services to take care of new arrivals.

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Britain has announced a further £11 million for the Start Fund, part of a larger £30 million package in new funding to help the most vulnerable people – including children and infants - arriving in Europe and fleeing the Syrian conflict, the International Development Secretary Justine Greening has announced.

New support will help 27,000 children and babies who have fled fighting in Syria - support for migration crisis now exceeds £50m.

Meeting the urgent needs of around 27,000 children that have fled to the Balkans, Greece, and Italy, the UK’s support will provide jackets, hats, scarves, boots and food to help keep them this winter.
International Development Secretary, Justine Greening, said: "Many children and their families have been left with nothing but the clothes on their back and are in desperate need of basic essentials. As the coldest months of winter are upon us, warm clothes, hot water and warm blankets will help protect the most vulnerable."

The UK will provide:

  • £11m funding to the Start Fund
  • £2.75m to UNICEF
  • £9.75m to the UNHCR’s Special Mediterranean Initiative
  • £3m to IFRC
  • £3.5million worth of essential equipment

Funding to Start Fund, UNHCR and the Red Cross will provide additional winter help to migrants and refugees who have already travelled to Europe, and boost infrastructure and services to take care of new arrivals.

This includes: transport from arrival points to accommodation to reduce exposure to the cold, warm clothes and blankets, hot meals and insulated pipes at water stations to ensure drinking water keeps flowing, portacabins, tents, sleeping materials to shelter people from the cold weather, increased support for health services, including basic medicines, first aid support and psychosocial care, emergency care by paramedics for new arrivals or those rescued and mobile health units to treat people on the move.

Totalling a further £3.5million the UK will provide essential equipment in the form of over 1,700 tents, 18,000 sleeping mats, 178,000 blankets, and items such as a rough terrain forklift truck to enable the complex logistics of the response.

Funding to UNICEF will provide blankets for babies, winter shoes/boots and socks, winter jackets, winter hats, scarf and gloves, and food.

The UK has already given £5m to the Start Fund, £2.4m to the IFRC and £6.75m to the UNHCR.

Read more about Start Network's European Refugee Response.