BRIEF: Romania to Create Refugee Center

GENEVA, Switzerland - The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced Friday (May 9, 2008) that Romania will build an evacuation center for refugees.  The evacuation center, which will be capable of accomodating up to 200 people, will be the first of its kind in Europe. 

UNHCR spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis said the facility will provide a temporary safe haven with effective and immediate protection for individuals or groups who need to be evacuated immediately from life-threatening situations before being resettled to other countries.

The agreement and project was developed and will be implemented through UNHCR, the Romanian Government, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).  The center will be located in Timisoara.

For more information, please see:

UN News Center - Romania: evacuation transit centre to be created - UN refugee agency - 9 May 2008

ReliefWeb - Romania: Evacuation transit centre to be established - 9 May 2008