Austria wants to help Libya and Morocco with two million euros

Thousands of people died in the earthquake in Morocco and floods in Libya. The federal government now wants to provide money from the Foreign Disaster Fund.

Austria will provide two million euros to affected areas in North Africa, the Federal Chancellery announced on Tuesday. The decision is scheduled to be taken by the Council of Ministers on Wednesday. An earthquake in Morocco and floods in northeastern Libya recently killed several thousand people. Immediate aid is “the order of the day,” says Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP).

She added that the funds allocated to the affected areas come from the Foreign Disaster Fund and will benefit from emergency aid provided by the Red Cross and Red Crescent. Vice Chancellor Werner Kugler (Greens) added that the federal government is committed to international assistance and cooperation. “This is exactly why Austria’s external disaster fund has increased five-fold in recent years,” says Kugler. Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) also emphasized that “non-bureaucratic on-site assistance” could be provided in this way.

Hundreds of thousands of people affected

According to the World Health Organization, more than 300,000 people, including about 100,000 children, were affected by the earthquake disaster that struck Morocco. Around the same time, a cyclone caused catastrophic flooding around the coastal city of Derna in northeastern Libya. The natural disaster and dam explosions have claimed the lives of several thousand people, and even more injuries. 10,000 people are still missing. The risk of epidemics is now increasing and threatens to worsen the situation. (Abba)