OREANDA-NEWS. Today, the European Commission is delivering on its commitment to accelerate the implementation of the Facility for Refugees in Turkey by announcing a further €47 million in new projects, bringing the total amount contracted under the Facility to address the immediate needs of refugees and host communities in Turkey so far to almost €240 million.

€20 million has been committed under the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP) to enhance the capacity of the Turkish Coast Guard to carry out search and rescue operations. An additional €27 million will fund educational infrastructure, skills training and social support for Syrian refugees under the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis. This new commitment is part of the accelerated implementation of the Facility for Refugees in Turkey which was agreed under the EU-Turkey Statement of 18 March.

Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said: "The European Union is delivering on its commitment for swift implementation of the EU-Turkey agreement, in support of the refugees. Our assistance to better manage migration flows is aimed to save lives of migrants and refugees and tackling irregular migration and trafficking. Today we also reaffirm that access to education for refugee children and young Syrians is an absolute priority. The EU Trust Fund in response to the Syrian crisis is one of Europe’s key instruments for delivering on our €3 billion pledge to help Syria and the region. The new funding for Turkey focuses on two key priorities of the EU-Turkey Joint Statement: to provide schooling to all children and to invest in livelihoods and social cohesion for refugees and host communities, ensure stability and provide refugees with the hope and perspective of a better life."

The Coast Guard project mobilises €20 million to strengthen the operational capacity to successfully conduct search and rescue operations, save lives and enhance the protection of migrants and refugees while at the same time tackling irregular migration and trafficking. The project will fund search and rescue boats and other specialised life-saving equipment. This will be complemented by training and support for Coast Guard staff. The project will be implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in close cooperation with the Turkish Coast Guard, and will be overseen by the EU Delegation to Turkey.

The education projects, worth a total of €27 million, are signed under the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis. They will be implemented in cooperation with the German development agency GiZ and international NGOs. Projects worth €22 million will provide additional infrastructure for the education of 23,000 refugee children, skills training for 24,000 young Syrians, social support for more than 74,000 of the most vulnerable Syrians, and assistance for local administrations. An additional action worth €5 million has been adopted to increase access for almost 1,000 young Syrians to Turkish universities in the coming academic year.

This will be followed by further funding in this sector in the coming months. Before the war, 20% of 18-25 year old Syrians were enrolled in higher and further education; this has dropped to less than 5% of the same age group today among refugees, creating the serious risk of a 'lost generation'.