1. With the exponential growth of the number of refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe and the coming of winter expected to deepen the humanitarian crisis facing the refugees in Europe, the government of the Republic of Korea has decided to provide a total of three million US dollars in humanitarian assistance for the refugees in Greece, Serbia and Croatia.

◦ Comprehensively taking into account such factors as the number of refugees in the three countries, the ROK plans to provide1.5 million, 1 million and 0.5 million US dollars, respectively, for the refugees in each of the countries through such channels as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and international non-governmental organizations.

2. The large-scale conflicts in Syria and Iraq have been prolonged, and Turkey and other refugee-hosting countries have reached their limits in their refugee assistance capacities, which has led to a sharp increase in the number of refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe to 850,000 in 2015. Under the circumstances, the Office of the UNHCR has requested the international community to provide humanitarian assistance worth a total of 180 million US dollars.

3. With the worst refugee situation since World War II persisting, the refugee issue is an issue of not a particular region but the entire world; in order to resolve the issue, the international community must have a sense of solidarity and share responsibility; and, in particular, increased assistance should be offered to refugee-hosting countries, which are shouldering big economic and social burdens.

4. The ROK government is actively implementing “humanitarian diplomacy” as its new “brand” of diplomacy and thereby increasing humanitarian assistance, especially to refugees and other vulnerable groups.

◦ By providing assistance to the aforementioned refugees, the ROK government expects to play a more active role as a responsible middle power country in the international community and increase cooperation with European countries.

* unofficial translation