Turkey has spent $12.5 billion on refugees so far: Deputy PM

ANKARA

Turkey has so far spent $12.5 billion on Syrian refugees living in the country, Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak said on Oct. 28, while noting that ongoing military operations in northern Syria have not caused any significant new migration influx.

“Turkey has spent $12.5 billion on refugees so far. The total aid spent by the United Nations, the European Union and several European countries only amounts to $510 million,” Kaynak added, stating that the current official number of refugees in Turkey is 2,753,696.

Of that number, 255,506 refugees are living in temporary settlements, but government is planning to move more than half of the official total into containers by the end of the year, he said. 

He also noted that 500,960 school-aged refugee children will have the opportunity to attend school and the government is planning to provide school for every refugee child within three years. 

“We are hosting Yazidi people, who fled from the terror of Daesh [the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant],” Kaynak also said.

“During the ongoing Euphrates Shield operation, not a single refugee has come to Turkey from Syria. This is very important. As our president has stated, this shows how important it is to build a safe zone in the region,” he stated.