Jane Onyanga-Omara

USA TODAY

The European Union launched a plan Wednesday to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on humanitarian aid for migrants in member states that host large numbers of them.

The EU's executive is proposing to provide $760 million over the next three years for basic necessities like food, shelter, clean water and emergency health care.

The plan is aimed at providing a faster and more targeted response to major crises affecting member states, it said.

It came after U.N. refugee agency spokesman Adrian Edwards told reporters that Europe “is on the cusp of a largely self-induced humanitarian crisis," with 24,000 migrants stranded in Greece, including 8,500 at a camp on the border with Macedonia.

Migrants in Calais protest over demolitions

"The crowded conditions are leading to shortages of food, shelter, water and sanitation,” Edwards said Tuesday.

"Obviously, this emergency support on its own, cannot, and will not, solve all problems," said Christos Stylianides, the European commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management on Wednesday.

"There are no magic formulas. Now, more than ever, member states and the EU need to work hand in hand. In this way, the EU can provide a united response to humanitarian suffering."

He said the situation in countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan — where many of the migrants hail from — must be addressed in order to solve the crisis. The EU executive will work with ministers and leaders from member states to fast-track the the proposal, he added.

Large numbers of migrants have landed in Greece by boat after fleeing conflict in the Middle East. Many are heading to northern European countries including Germany, which took in 1.1 million asylum-seekers last year.

French authorities continued demolishing makeshift shelters housing up to 1,000 migrants in the migrant camp known as "the Jungle" in Calais, northern France for a third day Wednesday. Migrants and activists there continued to protest against the plans.

Thousands of migrants are stranded at the Idomeni camp on Greece’s border with Macedonia after Macedonia limited the numbers of people it allows to enter.

More than a million people came to Europe last year and at least 133,000 have arrived on the continent so far in 2016.