The European Union said on the 20th it will launch a 15 million euro (about 2.8 billion yen) support program for Myanmar refugees living in nine camps in Thailand along the Myanmar border, as well as refugees living outside camps in Thailand’s northern Tak province, for 2026-28. The EU said the program is intended to help shift support away from reliance on humanitarian aid and toward self-reliance.
The program will be carried out in cooperation with the EU, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, the International Rescue Committee, and Expertise France, an agency under the French Development Agency. The target areas include refugee camps in four provinces: Mae Hong Son and Tak in the north, and Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi in the west.
Funding will be allocated as follows: 10.5 million euros for essential supplies and employment support through the IRC; 2 million euros to improve health services in Tak province through EF and local medical institutions; and 2.5 million euros for child protection and broader support for refugees within Thailand’s systems led by UNHCR.
The EU increased the funding from the originally planned 12 million euros to 15 million euros.
The IRC had served for 30 years as a main provider of medical support in northern refugee camps, but ended that assistance in late July last year after U.S. foreign aid was halted.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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