EU to offer Turkey additional €3B for Syrian refugees

By
Marija Nikolovska
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1

The European Union’s executive is expected to approve a further €3 billion ($3.7 billion) in funding for Syrian refugees living in Turkey, Reuters reports, citing EU officials.

EU leaders will meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on March 26 in the Bulgarian city of Varna, despite misgivings among many on the European side. The EU’s relations with Erdogan have been fraught in recent years but the bloc depends on Turkey to keep a tight lid on immigration from the Middle East.

Its top migration official, Dimitris Avramopoulos, will announce on Wednesday that the European Commission proposes extra funding for projects benefiting Syrian refugees in Turkey, according to sources.

Turkey has accepted 3.5 million refugees from Syria, and the EU is already spending a first installment of €3 billion to help them.

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  • jj

    Turkey is profiting from the refugees/migrants in both directions. It was/is Turkish people smugglers who even advertised on Facebook and other social media for them try to travel to the EU and end up with lavish benefits. Individuals were paying several thousands of Euros each. And that’s not to mention the Syrian refugees, including children, in hard labor and dangerous jobs in Turkey. I heard that it was mostly ethnic Syrian miners who were killed in the mine collapse a few years ago, and that is why Turkey didn’t put any effort into recovering their bodies.