EU has disbursed €727 million for Syrian refugees

GIRESUN, Turkey

The European Union (EU) has sent €727 million to Turkey for Syrian refugees, said an EU official on Monday.

Vincent Guillaume Poupeau, political counselor of Delegation of the European Union to Turkey, said: “The EU had allocated a serious amount of money for Turkey to host refugees; The €3 billion package was ratified within this scope."

Speaking to journalists during his visit to the Turkey's Black Sea province of Giresun, Poupeau said: "To this date, €727 million have already been transferred to several institutions of Turkish health and education ministries' accounts," he said.

On Nov. 29 2015, Turkey and the EU adopted a joint action plan, in which €3 billion were allocated for Syrian refugees in Turkey.

On March 18, 2016, Turkey and the EU signed a deal, which aims to discourage irregular migration through the Aegean Sea by taking stricter measures against human traffickers and improving conditions of nearly 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey.

According to an EU statement that was published on June 15, 2016, the EU would, in close cooperation with Turkey, "further speed up the disbursement of the initially allocated €3 billion under the Facility for Refugees in Turkey."

"Once these resources are about to be used in full, the EU will mobilize additional funding for the Facility up to an additional €3 billion to the end of 2018," the statement added.

*Reporting by Gultekin Yetgin; Writing by Ahmet Sait Akcay, Satuk Bugra Kutlugun