EU launches $226 million projects for Syrian refugees

By Ata Ufuk Seker and Ihvan Radoykov

BRUSSELS

Refugee support projects worth more than 200 million euros ($226 million) in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon were revealed by the EU on Wednesday.

In an official statement, the European Commission said the EU Regional Trust Fund money would support up to 1 million Syrian refugees.

It includes 165 million euros ($187 million) to support education for Syrian children in Turkey, including school building and higher education, as well as extending water and waste facilities in southern Turkey.

In Jordan, 21 million euros ($24 million) will go towards financing water networks while in Lebanon and Jordan 15 million euros ($17 million) will allow the UN United Nations Relief and Works Agency to provide education and cash assistance to thousands of Palestinian refugees from Syria.

“The funding focuses on the millions of out-of-camp refugees living in towns and cities in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon,” Johannes Hahn, commissioner for European neighborhood policy, said.

“We want to bring all refugee children across the region into schools by next year. We will also invest in livelihoods, urgent municipal services and social cohesion for refugees and host communities.”

The package is the latest installment in the 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion) promised for Syrian refugees in 2016 at a conference in London earlier this year.

The war in Syria has seen 4.5 million people flee to neighboring countries since it broke out in early 2011, including more than 2.7 million to Turkey.

Meanwhile, Bulgaria on Wednesday ratified the EU-Turkey agreement allowing it to return “irregular” Syrian migrants to Turkey.

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov called on Turkey to abide by the agreement. “Turkey needs to prove that the agreement is in force in the country,” he said in a TV interview shortly before the protocol was ratified. “Bulgaria insists that Turkey should obey the agreement.”

He claimed Bulgaria, which shares a 225 kilometer (140 mile) land border with Turkey, had previously tried and failed to return 195 refugees to Turkey, according to local media, and called on the situation to be dealt with by the EU.

* Hatice Kesgin contributed to this story from Ankara.