By Ingrid Melander

LUXEMBOURG, April 20 (Reuters) - The European Commission will spend up to 18 million euros ($24.46 million) to help refugees fleeing chronic insecurity in Iraq, the bloc's top migration official told Reuters on Friday.

An estimated 40,000 to 50,000 Iraqis flee their homes each month to escape insecurity, poor basic services, a loss of jobs and an uncertain future, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"It's 18 million (euros), I'll announce it today," EU Justice and Migration Commissioner Franco Frattini said.

An Frattini aide said 11 million euros was for humanitarian aid in the region, while EU states would receive up to 7 million euros to help them take in refugees.

EU interior ministers were due to discuss the issue of Iraqi refugees later on Friday.

"We'll discuss on how to implement a strategy on prevention, because we have to prevent refugee flows rather than just react to them," Frattini said.

Up to half of the four million Iraqi refugees are being sheltered by neighbours Syria and Jordan, which say they are struggling to shoulder the burden, while nearly two million are displaced across Iraq.

A U.N. conference agreed on Wednesday to step up help for the Iraqi refugees.

Specific assistance, both to host countries and refugees themselves, would be worked out over the coming months, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said.

More than 3,000 U.S. forces and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

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