EU approves another 3bn euros to Turkey, to manage refugee, migrant crisis

The European Commission has announced its approval, as promised two years ago, of another three billion euros for Turkey, that will be credited to a special fund for Ankara to manage the huge population of Syrian refugees and migrants from other countries that have fled to its territory.

At a time that Turkey has slid into authoritarianism and an expansionist policy, the disbursal is the clearest indication that the migrant crisis is the top priority in EU-Turkey relations, overshadowing all others, including Ankara’s direct threats to the sovereignty of member-states.

In its report, the Commission maintains that the March, 2016, EU-Turkey migrant deal has produced palpable results, as migrant flows to Europe have been substantially reduced.

Those flows had produced major political problems in a number of EU member-states, not least in Germany, where it battered Angela Merkel’s popularity.

Dimitris Avramopoulos, Commissioner for Migration, in explaining the disbursal, underlined that the huge aid package is not going directly into Turkish state coffers, but rather into a special refugee fund.

The previous three billion euro package was earmarked exclusively for support programmes on the ground.

Of the additional three billion approved yesterday, one billion comes from the EU budget and the remaining two billion comes from member-state contributions, just like the first time.

According to the EU, the number of refugees in Turkey has reached over 3.7 million, the highest number of refugees in any country. “About 94% of Syrian refugees in Turkey remain outside of camp settings with limited, but growing access to basic services.”

A basic element of the agreement is that Turkey must accept the return of refugees (even from war zones) and migrants that come from its shores to the Greek islands

in.gr