Refugees – Photo EC
(BRUSSELS) – The EU Commission has announced an additional EUR 127 million of funding for the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) programme via the EU Facility for Refugees in Turkey.
The new funding, which ensures continuation of EU support for refugees through the EU’s largest humanitarian programme in Turkey, brings the total EU contribution to the programme to EUR 1.125 billion.
The announcement showed that the EU was upholding its commitments to Turkey and the most vulnerable refugees, said Christos Stylianides, the EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management: “Our new funding will allow us to reach more than 1.6 million refugees, helping them to live in dignity in Turkey.”
Mr Stylianides added that the EU’s financial assistance programme had given many families “a chance to build a secure future after having fled the war in Syria.”
The ESSN programme provides refugees with monthly financial assistance through a special debit card which can only be used within Turkey and whose use is strictly monitored. It helps refugees integrate into the local economy and society as they pay for basic needs themselves such as food and rent.
The EU Facility for Refugees in Turkey was set up in 2015 in response to the European Council’s call for significant additional funding to support Syrian refugees in Turkey. It has a total budget of EUR 6 billion divided into two equal tranches of EUR 3 billion each.
