ANKARA: The European Union said on Thursday it was injecting 325 million euros for refugees in Turkey, part of a huge funding plan for the country, which hosts the world’s largest refugee population. The EU approved a plan in June to provide Turkey with three billion euros from 2021 to 2024 to help it host millions of refugees from Syria.

The 325 million euros will be loaded on to the debit cards of refugees, helping more than 1.5 million to cover their most essential needs, such as food, rent, transport and medicine. “This support is a critical lifeline for thousands of families, many of whom have been especially hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic,” Janez Lenarcic, EU commissioner for crisis management, told a news conference in Ankara.

“This cash assistance enables them to decide for themselves what they need most urgently, whilst contributing to the Turkish economy.” A new study carried out by the Turkish Red Crescent and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has revealed that debt levels among refugees in Turkey have more than doubled since the Covid-19 pandemic, with just under half of those surveyed not having acceptable levels of food intake.