Strife-torn Kyrgyzstan is set to receive 5 million euros (6.1 million dollars) in aid from the European Union, the European Commission announced Tuesday, dpa reported.
Authorities are struggling to maintain public order after violence broke out on the weekend between the Kyrgyz majority and members of the Uzbek minority in the south of the country, leaving at least 170 dead and creating around 100,000 refugees, according to United Nations estimates.
"The news from South Kyrgyzstan is not good. Many people have died and thousands of innocent civilians are fleeing for their lives across the border into Uzbekistan," European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, Kristalina Georgieva, said in a statement.
The commission, which is the EU's executive, said the money "will be used to provide emergency medical support, food, water, shelter, non-food items, protection and psychosocial assistance to the victims."
Funds were earmarked a day after EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg expressed their "readiness to respond to the most urgent humanitarian needs" of Kyrgyzstan.