The European Union has confirmed that it will make a contribution of €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) to a refugee facility in Turkey, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini announced on Thursday.
“I would like to confirm the European Union contribution of 1.5 billion euros to the second tranche of the facility for refugees in Turkey,” Mogherini said at a press conference in Brussels on the sidelines of the third conference on “Supporting the future of Syria and the region” taking place March 12-14.
The European Union pledges 560 million euros, or $634 million, for Syrian refugees in 2019, and the same amount in 2020, Mogherini added.
“I am proud today to announce that the European Union is confirming its pledge of 560 million euros for 2019, and is committing to the same amount in 2020. And we have the ambition to maintain the same levels for 2021,” Mogherini said at the press conference.
According to the EU diplomat, this aid is intended to help refugees and host communities in the region.
There are a total of 3,611,834 Syrian immigrants in Turkey who have been granted temporary protection status, according to a statement from Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu in December 2018.
In March 2016 the EU and Turkey reached an agreement to stop irregular migration through the Aegean Sea and improve the conditions of more than 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey.
The EU had pledged €6 billion ($7.44 billion) in funding for the refugees and promised to mobilize the second €3 billion ($3.72 billion) tranche by the end of 2018.
The number of Syrian refugees in Turkey is higher than in any other country in the world. Ankara says it has spent around $25 billion helping and sheltering refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011.