EU Closes Decade-Long Refugee Facility in Türkiye as Second Phase Continues
By Bosphorus News Staff
The European Union formally closed the Facility for Refugees in Turkey on March 6, ending a coordination mechanism that mobilised €6 billion in support for refugees in Türkiye over the past decade, with nearly €5.9 billion of that total disbursed.
Senior representatives from the EU, its member states, Türkiye and the United Kingdom met in Brussels for the Facility's final Steering Committee, where they reviewed an independent end-evaluation and took stock of ten years of cooperation.
Established in March 2016 as a central element of the EU-Turkey Statement, the Facility financed 115 projects focused on refugees living outside camps and in vulnerable situations. Its €6 billion budget was mobilised in two tranches of €3 billion each, covering 2016-2017 and 2018-2019. When it launched, Türkiye was already hosting more than 3.1 million Syrian refugees and nearly 4 million refugees in total. Today the country hosts more than 2.3 million Syrian refugees and over 300,000 asylum seekers and refugees of other nationalities, making it one of the largest refugee-hosting countries in the world.
The Facility's reach was substantial. Close to 1.3 million refugees received basic needs support. Over 930,000 refugee children were enrolled in school, backed by 196 newly built schools and close to 250,000 trained education staff. The programme ran 177 migrant health centres, mobilised 3,506 healthcare staff, delivered more than 51.3 million primary healthcare consultations and provided close to 9.6 million vaccination doses to refugee children. More than 3.6 million individuals benefited from Facility-funded protection services.
The closure marks the end of the coordination framework, not the end of all activity under it. Eleven of the 115 projects remain ongoing, with extensions required due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the February 2023 earthquakes and sustained inflationary pressure. Five are expected to conclude by end of 2026, with the remainder running through 2028-2029. The remaining disbursements are subject to the completion of audits and the conclusion of pending projects.
EU engagement has continued under a separate framework. For 2020-2027, a further €6 billion was mobilised to sustain assistance for refugees and host communities. Of that, €4.6 billion has been contracted and €3.2 billion disbursed. Programmes under this phase remain active, covering essential services, protection, education, healthcare and socio-economic support.
Since 2011, the EU has directed close to €12.4 billion in total to assist refugees and host communities in Türkiye across all mechanisms.
The closing session was hosted by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood.