The EU plans to spend more than €5 billion o help Turkey and other countries host Syrian refugee
The European Union plans to spend more than €5 billion ($5.9 billion) to help Turkey and other countries host Syrian refugees, diplomats said on Wednesday.
European Commission’s proposal will be presented to EU leaders at a summit in Brussels on Thursday. Pour it can become official policy, it would need approve from EU governments and the European Parliament .
Human rights groups say the deal is a way to outsource the problem without considering the human factor.
The proposal, briefed out to the media on Wednesday, sets aside €3.5 billion for Turkey, €2.2 billion for Jordan and Lebanon over the next three years.
Per UN figures this three nations are currently home to more than 5 million Syrian refugees. .
The fresh funding was initially promised to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during talks with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel in Ankara back in April.
The 2016 agreement said it would provide Turkey with up to €6 billion in health, education, food and infrastructure assistance.
It came after the 2015 migration crisis when more than one million refugees and migrants entered Europe at the height of the Syrian civil war.
Officials in Ankara said the amount was not enough to cope with the financial burden of welcoming so many migrants to Turkey, arguing the installment payouts were often hit by delays.
But Turkey failing to honor its commitments under the agreement, that they have allowed migrants to cross into Europe.
The European Commission is seeking a similar migrant accord with Tunisia and Libya