Refugee crisis

Council of Majorca to make available 88,000 euros for Chios refugees

Material collected for refugees in storage in Inca | Photo: M. Nadal

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma23/03/2016 00:00

Jesús Jurado, a vice-president of the Council of Majorca and the president of the Majorcan Cooperation and Solidarity Fund, yesterday outlined a project of support to be given to refugees on the Greek island of Chios. Directed at reception and health care, 88,000 euros are to be made available, 70,000 euros of which have been raised.

The fund's manager, Antònia Rosselló, said that this was not a one-off project and was one that was not just about the refugees. The project's counterpart is the town hall in Chios and its objectives also include the management of waste resulting frm the large number of refugees going to the island.

President Miquel Ensenyat said of the project that the reaction of Majorcan society has been exceptional and demonstrated that Majorca is a place of solidarity. Of the 70,000 euros, 50,000 are from the fund so via the Council, while the rest is from private and business contributions as well as extraordinary contributions from the Council and town halls.

Rosselló specified that the Council is to make 88,000 euros available and that wherever possible purchases with the funding will be made in Greece. "It is better if everything can be bought in Greece in order to reduce the cost of transport and to also help with reactivating local businesses."

Meanwhile, the first of 13 containers of clothes, medical equipment blankets and other vital items which have been donated by people and associations in the Balearics was today shipped to Athens to be distributed to the refugee camps. The rest will follow over the coming days.