EU countries on Wednesday approved a 3 billion euro (US$3.32 billion) fund for Turkey to improve living conditions for refugees there in exchange for Ankara ensuring fewer of them migrate on to Europe.
The EU is counting on the deal to lower the number of asylum seekers arriving in Europe after more than 1 million streamed onto the continent last year, mainly by sea from Turkey, with figures indicating little sign of the flow ebbing so far this year.
All 28 EU countries signed off on the proposal at a meeting in Brussels after Italy dropped its opposition to the plan, which was first agreed with Ankara in November last year.
The bloc’s executive European Commission welcomed the decision on Turkey, currently home to an estimated 2.5 million refugees from the civil war in Syria next door.
“Turkey now hosts one of the world’s largest refugee communities and has committed to significantly reducing the numbers of migrants crossing into the EU,” Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said. “The Facility for Refugees in Turkey will go straight to the refugees, providing them with education, health and food. The improvement of living conditions and the offering of a positive perspective will allow refugees to stay closer to their homes.”
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the current holder of the EU’s rotating presidency, said cooperation with Turkey on the migration crisis would also focus on targeting human traffickers who have arranged passage for many people.
The EU would provide 1 billion euros from its own budget, twice as much as initially offered. The rest is to come from 28 governments, with Germany being the top contributor at 427.5 million euros this year.
Britain would follow with this year’s contribution of 327.6 million euros, France at 309.2 million euros, Italy at 224.9 million and Spain at 152.8 million, according to figures provided by the European Commission.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said more than 67,000 people arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean Sea so far this year, entering mainly through Greece, as well as Italy.
Italy unblocked the funding only after Brussels said it would exempt contributions to the Turkey fund in calculating EU countries’ budget deficits. Under EU rules, countries must keep their budget shortfalls low or face disciplinary action.
Italy wanted to exempt more migration-related spending from its budget gap and sought to agree a figure of about 3.2 billion euros this year.
The European Commission refused to endorse a lump-sum up front and said that any such spending would be analyzed separately after it takes place.
However, on Wednesday, Rome secured an additional declaration before agreeing to the fund, in which it said it still “strongly expects” Brussels will exempt from its deficit figures “the full amount of costs” it incurred from 2011, when a conflict in Libya started and triggered higher migration to Italy.
In related news, more than 91,000 asylum seekers arrived in Germany last month, the government said yesterday, underlining the pressure the country faces to diminish the influx of migrants.
The German Ministry of the Interior said 91,671 people were registered as asylum seekers last month, compared with 127,320 who arrived in December last year. Officials have said that winter weather was the driving force behind the decline.
Additional reporting by AP
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