EU unveils 20 mln euros aid package for refugees in Türkiye
BRUSSELS
The European Union has announced that the bloc will provide 20 million euros ($22.9 million) in aid to support the humanitarian needs of refugees in Türkiye.
The new humanitarian assistance will be delivered through aid organizations operating in the country, in close coordination with Turkish authorities, according to a statement issued by the European Commission on June 23.
The funding aims to address essential needs such as protection, health care, water and sanitation and education for refugees, the statement noted.
The statement emphasized that the support will target refugees who have little to no access to public services, as well as vulnerable groups with specific needs.
While the total number of foreign nationals residing in Türkiye exceeds 4 million, 2.7 million of them are Syrian refugees under temporary protection.
According to data from the Interior Ministry, the number of Syrians under temporary protection, which stood at 3.6 million at the end of 2020, declined to 2.7 million as of June 5.
In terms of regional distribution, Istanbul hosts the highest number of Syrians under temporary protection, followed by the southeastern cities of Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa.
The civil war that broke out in Syria in 2011 forced millions to flee the country, with neighboring Türkiye becoming the world's largest host of Syrian refugees.
Since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024, more than 175,000 Syrians have returned from Türkiye to their homeland, according to Ankara’s statement in April.
With the end of the school year in Türkiye in June, a rise in the number of returns is expected.
U.N. refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi also stated that over 2 million Syrians displaced by war have returned home since Assad's ouster.
"Over 2 million Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons have returned home since December," Grandi wrote on X during his visit to Lebanon, which, according to official estimates, hosts around 1.5 million Syrian refugees.
He called this “a sign of hope amid rising regional tensions.”
