The €6 billion Facility for Refugees in Turkey has “largely met the needs of refugees, and was targeted relatively effectively”, said an independent mid-term evaluation published on the European Commission’s website on Wednesday 7 July.
More than 4 million refugees and asylum seekers are registered in Turkey, of whom 3.6 million are Syrian. €6 billion of the Facility have already been the subject of a contract and €4.1 billion have already been disbursed.
According to the evaluation, the Facility was “unprecedented in scale and reach, and was mobilised quickly” and was mobilised quickly and combined with assistance from Turkey. It is a “model for refugee operations, combining humanitarian and development assistance”, the report adds.
However, the evaluation found that the Facility’s approach to host communities and some key groups has been uneven, and that there is still work to be done to reach some of the people least likely to access assistance. Similarly, support for economic opportunities has been the least developed intervention to date.
The report includes a number of recommendations to further improve the effectiveness of the Facility. This should be extended until 2023, with a budget of €3 billion.
The evaluation therefore proposes, among other things, that access to services for underserved refugees be increased, that the impact of growing social tensions for refugees in Turkey be mitigated, and that migrant health care be integrated into the general health system.
In addition, the report states that the Facility should place more emphasis on the integration of refugee students into the classroom. Cash assistance should be continued to meet basic needs, with a greater focus on the most vulnerable refugees and in line with similar assistance to Turkish citizens. Furthermore, economic support programmes should be adapted to the current realities of the economy and the labour market, the paper adds.
See the evaluation: https://bit.ly/3hmXvXv (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)