EU to provide nearly $174m extra fund for Syrian refugees in Turkey

Marwa A

3 years ago

KAHRAMANMARAS, TURKEY - SEPTEMBER 19: Syrian refugee children attend 2nd degree class at the Kahramanmaras refugee camp's school on September 19, 2019 in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is pushing for the creation of an expanded “safe zone” in northern Syria where his government hopes to resettle up to three million Syrian refugees. The United States and Turkey recently started joint patrols of a small buffer zone along the border, but it’s a far cry from the 20-by-300 mile strip proposed by Mr. Erdogan, and no other power involved in the war as agreed to the idea. Turkey has warned that, if it doesn’t receive more international support for the safe zone, it might relax its migration controls and reopen the route for refugees to enter Europe. More than 3.6 million Syrian refugees have settled in Turkey after fleeing the civil war that began in 2011. (Photo by Burak Kara/Getty Images)

EU ambassadors approved on Wednesday €149.6 million ($174 million) extra funding for Syrian refugees in Turkey, Anadolu reports.

The financial support will extend the bloc’s multi-purpose cash assistance program that provides monthly transfers for the most vulnerable refugees in the country, the Council of the EU wrote in a press release.

The scheme, officially named Emergency Social Safety Net, is the biggest humanitarian program in the bloc’s history that has been helping 1.8 million refugees to cover essential needs of rent, bills, food, and medicine.

The additional €149.6 million will be financed from the remaining margin of the 2021 budget.

The budgetary amendment has yet to be approved by the European Parliament.

Turkey is the largest host country for Syrian refugees, providing protection to nearly 4 million people who fled the neighboring country.

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