European Union allocates $669m to support refugees in Turkey

The European Union announced on Thursday the allocation of an additional €600 million ($669 million) for the financial aid programme to support refugees in Turkey.

The European Commission said in a statement that it had provided the amount as additional allocations to cards distributed by the Turkish Red Crescent to refugees, under the Social Harmony Assistance Programme supervised by the Red Crescent and the UN World Food Programme.

The Commission pointed out that another €63 million ($72 million) were allocated to ensure the continuation of various projects in the field of basic services, such as education and health, bringing the total new financial allocations for the Syrian refugees in Turkey to €663 million.

READ: Turkey slams French parliament’s decision on Syria operation

The Social Harmony Assistance Programme provides financial assistance to meet the basic needs of families living in Turkey under international and temporary protected status.

It allows needy families living outside the camps to receive 120 Turkish Liras (about $22) per month on Red Crescent cards.

At the Turkey-EU summit on 29 November 2015, the EU pledged a €3 billion ($3.34 billion) fund for Syrians in Turkey.

At the Turkish-European Summit on 18 March 2016, the EU decided to allocate an additional €3 billion to the fund.

The two sides decided to spend the fund allocations on projects to be developed to meet health, education, infrastructure, food and other needs of Syrians in Turkey.

However, Turkey accuses the EU of not sending financial aid to the Syrians fast enough.