EU unable to determine impact of refugee funds given to Turkey, auditors say

The European Union’s auditors said on Wednesday that they could not confirm whether some of the billions of euros the bloc provided to Turkey to help deal with Syrian refugees had any real impact. Stated.

Under a deal signed between EU leaders and Turkey in 2016, the EU pledged to provide Turkey with at least $6.4 billion to help deal with migrants from Syria. Turkey, in turn, pledged to stop migrants leaving its territory and heading to Europe.

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In March 2016, one month after the agreement entered into force, the Turkish government announced that the number of migrants illegally entering Greece had decreased from about 6,000 a day in November 2015 to about 130 a day.

In 2021, leaders announced plans to transfer an additional $3.2 billion for refugees in Turkey. Hailed as a huge success in Europe, the agreement served as a template for other more recent and elaborate agreements with Tunisia and Egypt.

Funds from the deal will provide ATM cards to some of the more than 4 million registered refugees, improve education and health, help people better integrate into society, and help people fleeing the Syrian war in need. and may be used for the construction of facilities in Turkey. .

However, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) conducted a follow-up study last year to see whether the funds were being used effectively, potentially allowing Turkey’s Education Ministry to assess the impact of EU projects. He said he refused to provide information.

“I am convinced that Europeans want to see some results from the various development and humanitarian projects that the EU is funding,” ECA Commissioner Bettina Jacobsen told reporters. Ta.

According to the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, at least $566 million will be dedicated to “supporting quality and inclusive education for refugees in Turkey.” Its purpose is to pay teachers’ salaries and provide educational facilities, Turkish language, teacher training, counseling and other guidance.

Auditors will look at the list of schools receiving EU aid and the number of refugee students attending them, whether out-of-school children are being reintegrated into the school system, exam pass rates compared to Turkish students, etc. requested information.

Without data, Jacobsen stressed, “we cannot draw conclusions about measuring the impact or sustainability” of education projects undertaken by the EU.

Asked by The Associated Press what is preventing auditors from obtaining information from the education ministry, one EU auditor involved in the process said: “They just claimed they didn’t have the data.” said.

“We understand that the data should normally exist,” said the auditor, who could not be named due to ECA regulations. “We can’t speculate on why they don’t want to provide the data or why they won’t provide it.”

ECA officials noted that it is relatively unusual for authorities not to cooperate with auditors.

The commission’s auditors and staff, who are responsible for ensuring that the bloc’s funds are spent correctly, made joint and separate requests for information without success.

Auditors were able to visit some schools and hospitals benefiting from EU funds and see how the facilities are used by refugee and Turkish students and how teachers work there. was completed.

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Overall, given the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria in February 2023, and Turkey’s rampant inflation, the auditors found that the EU funding package was “adequate to Turkey’s refugees and host communities.” “We have provided support.”

But Mr Jacobsen also said the auditors “found weaknesses in the commission’s assessment of project budgets”, adding that the EU executive branch “does not systematically assess whether project costs are reasonable or “We didn’t compare like-for-like costs.”