Introduction
Türkiye hosts around 3 million registered refugees, mainly from:
- Syria
- Afghanistan
- Iraq
The Turkish government in close cooperation with the EU continues to assist refugees, vulnerable people and those affected by the aftermath of the February 2023 earthquakes. With the support of the EU, it is integrating registered refugees into the country's:
- health
- education
- other public services systems
However, humanitarian needs persist due to severe socio-economic challenges and social acceptance issues. After the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, refugee returns to Syria have been limited by housing and infrastructure shortages, and lack of educational and economic opportunities. The EU continues to support vulnerable populations in Türkiye through over 100 humanitarian projects and 24 partners.
What are the needs?
Türkiye hostsalmost 3 million Syrian refugees and approximately 230,000 asylum seekers from different nationalities with most of them facing challenging and often precarious circumstances.
The country is striving to ensure that registered refugees have access to essential rights and services, such as:
- education
- healthcare
However, the depreciation of the Turkish lira and soaring inflation have further exacerbated the already challenging living conditions for refugees. Rising anti-refugee rhetoric combined with increased expectation and desire for the return of Syrians is another key factor.
Some refugees feel they have no choice but to resort to negative coping mechanisms, such as:
- school dropouts
- child labour
- child marriage
Many families reduce their food consumption or live in substandard housing.
Around 50% of the registered Syrian refugees reside in the areas affected by the devastating earthquake of 2023. Some still live in temporary accommodation sites managed by the governmental and local authorities with no clear timeline in place regarding the duration of their stay or their prospects.
The humanitarian needs of refugees living in precarious conditions remain high, especially in the earthquake-affected areas. Key priorities include:
- protection support including case management, legal aid (including irregular migrants), psychosocial support
- support out-of-school children with enrollment including cash support for education
- multi-purpose cash assistance to cover refugees/migrants’ essential needs, notably in the earthquake-affected area
- improvement of sanitation and shelter conditions in the earthquake-affected area
- specialised health services for people with disabilities
How are we helping?
Earthquakes
Following the devastating earthquakes, the EU mobilised €78.2 million of the EU’s humanitarian funding in Türkiye, which was delivered through the EU’s humanitarian partner organisations. After the earthquake, 1,750 rescuers and 111 search dogs were immediately deployed via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and many European countries delivered humanitarian support to the earthquake-affected areas.
Türkiye has been a Participating State of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism since 2016. Established in 2001, the Mechanism aims to strengthen cooperation among the EU Member States and Participating States in:
- prevention
- preparedness
- disaster response
EU humanitarian work in the country
In close coordination with the Turkish authorities, the EU continues to fund humanitarian projects in Türkiye to provide vulnerable refugees and their host communities with the essential support they need. They also address various protection issues, including:
- legal counselling
- psychosocial support
- access to education
- civil documentation
- specialised services
Since 2012, the EU has allocated €3.506 billion in humanitarian funding.
Between 2016-2023, the EU’s single largest humanitarian programme in its history, the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) has provided 80 months of uninterrupted cash assistance to 1.5 million refugees in Türkiye with a budget of more than €2.3 billion. Another programme titled the Conditional Cash Transfer for Education (CCTE) has supported over 800,000 children between 2017-2022. The major humanitarian cash programmes have been successfully handed over to development actors in the spirit of NEXUS.
In line with the recommendations of the Grand Bargain, the LIFT project (now called CLIP) was successfully established as a pool funding mechanism in 2018. It supports small and medium-sized local initiatives to access international funding. The project has provided valuable support to refugees in need of humanitarian assistance in the protection sector, reaching out the extra mile to support underserved refugees.
The CLIP project was also mobilised for the earthquake response through its local partners who acted as a first responder after the earthquakes with in-kind distribution to the earthquake survivors and Search and Rescue Teams.
Through our international and local partners, we are also supporting:
- continuous registration
- identification of persons with specific needs and their referral to the specialised services
- specialised protection services including cash for protection
- legal assistance
- protection monitoring and advocacy activities
- support to out-of-school children for school enrollment
- multi-purpose cash assistance to cover basic needs, especially in the earthquake-affected area
- improvement of WASH facilities and shelter conditions in the earthquake-affected area
- physical rehabilitation services together with assistive devices and prosthetics and orthotics provision for persons with disabilities