EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 14.3.2018 COM(2018) 91 final COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Second Annual Report on the Facility for Refugees in Turkey



Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1.1 Turkey and the refugee crisis 1.2 The EU response to the crisis and the establishment of the Facility 2. The functioning of the Facility 3. Financial capacity, duration and nature of funding 4. Implementation of the Facility 4.1 Humanitarian assistance 4.2 Non-humanitarian assistance 5. Monitoring & evaluation and audit 5.1 Monitoring & evaluation 5.2 Audit 6. Communication and visibility 7. Conclusion and next steps





1. Introduction In accordance with Article 8 (1) of the Commission Decision of 24 November 2015 on the coordination of the actions of the Union and of the Member States through a coordination mechanism ("the Decision"), the Commission shall keep the European Parliament and the Council regularly informed about the implementation of the Facility for Refugees in Turkey (hereinafter 'the Facility'). Article 8 (2) of the Decision provides that the Commission shall report annually to the European Parliament and to the Council on the implementation of the Facility. The first Annual Report on the Facility was published in March 2017. It described the functioning of the Facility, the first actions undertaken in view of its implementation, monitoring, the evaluation system, as well as related communication activities. 1.1 Turkey and the refugee crisis Turkey’s geographical position makes it a prominent reception and transit country for refugees and migrants. As a result of an unprecedented influx mainly due to the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, the country has been hosting over 3.8 million refugees and migrants, the highest number in the world. This includes 3.5 million registered Syrian refugees, of whom less than 7% reside in the 21 camps established by the Turkish government, and more than 300,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers mainly from Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Somalia. A breakdown of refugees and asylum seekers per province can be found in the map on page 3. This influx has had a significant impact on the host communities. Turkey continues to make commendable efforts in receiving, supporting and hosting high numbers of refugees and migrants. 1.2 The EU response to the crisis and the establishment of the Facility In 2015, the European Union and its Member States decided to step up their political and financial engagement to support Turkey in its efforts to host refugees. A comprehensive cooperation based on shared responsibility, mutual commitments and delivery between the European Union and Turkey was agreed within the framework of the 29 November 2015 and 18 March 2016 EU-Turkey Statements. The meeting of Heads of State or Government with Turkey on 29 November 2015 activated the EU-Turkey Joint Action Plan to help Turkey address the consequences of the Syria conflict. In answer to the call from EU Member States for significant additional funding to support refugees in Turkey, the Commission decided on 24 November 2015 to establish the Facility for Refugees in Turkey. The Facility is a mechanism to coordinate the mobilisation of resources made available under both the EU budget and additional contributions from Member States integrated into the EU budget as external assigned revenue amounting to a total of EUR 3 billion for the period 2016-2017. This contribution complements and scales up substantially the existing funding under the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis (EU Trust Fund), the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace, the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, and the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance national programmes, which allowed to frontline the work on refugee related matters with key partners. The implementation of the 18 March 2016 EU-Turkey Statement (hereafter 'the Statement') played a key role in the course of 2017 in ensuring that the migration challenge is addressed effectively and jointly by the EU and Turkey. The Statement continues to deliver concrete results in reducing irregular and dangerous crossings and in saving lives in the Aegean Sea. Overall, 41,720 migrants arrived via the Eastern Mediterranean route to the EU in 2017, compared to 182,227 in 2016. The number of lives lost at sea has been significantly reduced, with 62 persons lost at sea in 2017, compared to 434 in 2016. Resettlements from Turkey to the EU are ongoing at an accelerated pace; from 4 April 2016 to 14 February 2018, 12,170 Syrian refugees have been resettled from Turkey to Europe. As for the Voluntary Humanitarian Admissions Scheme, with the Standard Operating Procedures endorsed by Member States in December 2017, it should be activated. All elements and conditions are now in place for activation, as set out in the EU-Turkey Statement. This will ensure the continuation of resettlements and provide a safe and legal alternative to irregular migration to the EU. The full and sustained implementation of the Statement requires continuous efforts and political determination from all sides. 2. The functioning of the Facility The Facility is a coordination mechanism that allows for the swift, effective and efficient mobilisation of EU assistance to refugees in Turkey. The Facility ensures the optimal mobilisation of existing EU financing instruments, either as humanitarian assistance or non-humanitarian assistance, to ensure that the needs of refugees and host communities are addressed in a comprehensive and coordinated manner. The Steering Committee of the Facility provides strategic guidance on the overall priorities, the type of actions to be supported, the amounts to be allocated and the financing instruments to be mobilised, as well as, when appropriate, on the conditions relating to the implementation by Turkey of its commitments under the EU-Turkey Joint Action Plan. During the second year of implementation of the Facility, four Steering Committee meetings took place, on 12 January, 31 March, 28 June and 8 November 2017. The Commission convened the 9th Steering Committee meeting on 9 March 2018 and the next meeting is planned for spring 2018. The key principles guiding the Facility's implementation are speed, efficiency and effectiveness, while ensuring sound financial management. Sustainability of Facility interventions is also important, as is the shared ownership with the Turkish authorities. The identification of priority areas for Facility assistance is based on a comprehensive and independent needs assessment, with particular attention paid to vulnerable groups. The Facility coordinates financing from the following external financing instruments: Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/96 concerning humanitarian aid, the European Neighbourhood Instrument, the Development Cooperation Instrument, the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance and the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace . Measures to be financed by the Union's budget are implemented in accordance with its financial rules and regulations – which includes both direct and indirect management and involves the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis. The breakdown of Facility projects per EU instrument is as follows:

Implementation of assistance is conditional upon strict compliance by Turkey with undertakings reflected in the EU-Turkey Joint Action Plan, and the EU-Turkey Statements from 29 November 2015 and 18 March 2016. 3. Financial capacity, duration and nature of funding The total budget coordinated by the Facility in the period 2016-2017 is EUR 3 billion. This consists of EUR 1 billion from the EU budget, and EUR 2 billion from the Member States funding. Member States' contributions are made directly to the EU General Budget in the form of external assigned revenue pursuant to Article 21(2)(b) of the Financial Regulation and assigned to the budget lines of the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance and humanitarian aid. Of the EUR 1 billion from the EU budget, EUR 250 million was mobilised in 2016 and EUR 750 million in 2017. Member States paid EUR 677 million to the Facility in 2016 and 847 million in 2017, out of which EUR 1,332 million or some 87 % had been disbursed at the end of 2017. For 2018 and 2019, the distribution of Member States' payments will be respectively EUR 396 million and EUR 80 million. At the end of 2016 and further to discussions in the fourth Steering Committee and in the Committee of the Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States to the European Union, the deadline for final payments under the Facility was extended from the end of 2019 to the end of 2021 for technical reasons to allow the signature of some longer-term contracts provided for in the Special Measure adopted in July 2016. This extension will have no negative impact on the implementation of the activities concerned, and will not impact the timing of the payments of the Member States nor those of the Commission into the Facility. There is a satisfactory match between the rate of Member States' payments of their contributions into the Facility and the rate of disbursements financed by those contributions from the Facility. 4. Implementation of the Facility The Facility is implemented as humanitarian and non-humanitarian assistance, with roughly EUR 1.4 billion and EUR 1.6 billion allocated to the respective strands: Humanitarian assistance supports the most vulnerable refugees and other persons of concern through the provision of predictable and dignified support addressing basic needs and protection. It also addresses gaps in service provision through specialised agencies and partners in health and education in emergencies. Non-humanitarian assistance supports the longer-term livelihoods, socio-economic, health and educational perspectives of refugees. It also focuses on vulnerable groups, e.g. protection of women and girls against sexual and gender based violence and improving access to sexual and reproductive health care. Particular attention is paid to non-Syrian refugees and asylum seekers. Facility interventions always aim to encompass the local communities hosting refugees. From an operational perspective, the full Facility envelope of EUR 3 billion was committed and contracted through 72 projects by the end of 2017. Disbursements reached more than EUR 1.85 billion, or 62% of the total envelope, with the balance to be paid in the course of implementation of Facility projects, and no later than by the end of 2021. Full details can be obtained from the online projects table. Assistance is available throughout the country, but most of the implementation takes place out-of-camp, mainly in the ten most affected provinces - Istanbul, Sanliurfa, Hatay, Gaziantep, Mersin, Adana, Bursa, Kilis, Izmir, and Kahramanmaras. 4.1 Humanitarian assistance EU humanitarian aid is guided by the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid of 2007, which provides that the EU as a humanitarian actor adheres to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, as set out in the Lisbon Treaty (Article 214 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU) and in the Humanitarian Aid Regulation (No. 1257/96). Under the humanitarian strand of the Facility, EUR 1.389 billion has been allocated and all 45 humanitarian projects have been contracted with 19 partners, covering the response to basic needs, protection, education, and health. EUR 1.11 billion has been disbursed to date, benefiting a total of 1,561,940 refugees. The Humanitarian Implementation Plan was published in May 2017. Some of the main Facility humanitarian aid achievements in 2017 can be found below. The Emergency Social Safety Net The EU has continued to address the needs of refugees with high socio-economic vulnerability via the Emergency Social Safety Net. The latter is a humanitarian social assistance programme consisting of a single debit card that delivers monthly, unrestricted, multi-purpose cash. As of February 2018, almost 1.2 million refugees had benefited from monthly cash-transfers through the programme. Furthermore, Turkey's Directorate General of Migration Management has, with support from the Facility, verified the data for over one million Syrians under Temporary Protection living in Turkey. This exercise helps Turkey, the EU and its partners to provide better targeted support to those in need of protection. Education in emergencies

The EU has continued to facilitate access for refugee populations to formal education systems by reducing barriers and providing the means for at-risk children to be able to go to school. The Conditional Cash Transfer for Education programme was launched in 2017 and is the largest ever programme financed by the EU on education in emergencies. As of February 2018, the families of over 266,000 children attending school received financial support through the Conditional Cash Transfer for Education programme. Furthermore, an average of 6,683 children per month benefited from school transportation support and 3,487 refugee children benefited from non-formal education activities. Such activities include provision of non-formal education courses in Turkish and/or Arabic, home learning initiatives and homework clubs. These programmes will facilitate the children's entrance to formal education at their age-appropriate grade. Health The EU has focused on filling potential gaps in primary health care service provision as well as providing services specifically needed by refugees and other persons of concern. A total of 311,447 primary health care consultations were delivered to refugees in the most refugee populated provinces. In addition, 17,913 pregnant women benefited from ante and post-natal care services, 4,912 refugees benefited from mental health care and psycho-social support and 5,228 refugees benefited from post-operative and rehabilitative services from January to end December 2017. 4.2 Non-humanitarian assistance Under the non-humanitarian strand of the Facility, EUR 1.611 billion has been allocated, all 27 projects have been contracted and EUR 747 million has been disbursed. The programming and contracting faced a number of challenges in the area of municipal infrastructure, especially as concerns the inclusion of credit and loan elements. In light of lack of maturity of the project pipeline, no support for municipal infrastructure could finally be granted by the Facility. Therefore, the Special Measure adopted in July 2016, was modified twice in 2017. The modifications as approved by the Committee of the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance followed the same principles as the original Special Measure. Furthermore, due to a lower than expected number of returnees, the Special Measure on returns, adopted in April 2016, was modified to improve the capacity of the Turkish Directorate-General for Migration Management to manage, receive and host migrants and returnees, especially as regards human resources and infrastructure. The scope of the Special Measure was increased to cover all migrants returning from the EU. In addition to the allocation managed directly through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance , the non-humanitarian side of the Facility supports a series of bottom-up measures through 15 projects for a total of EUR 293 million under the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis. The breakdown of allocations per priority area, excluding humanitarian assistance, is as follows: Since the majority of contracts were signed towards the end of 2017, implementation of most projects started only in 2018. However, some projects have already had a significant impact on the ground. Education The EU is supporting all stages of the education system, from early childhood to higher education, in order not to lose a generation of young people. The main pillar of the Facility assistance to education under the Facility is the "Promoting Integration of Syrian Children into Turkish Education System" project, a EUR 300 million direct grant with the Turkish Ministry of National Education to promote the integration of Syrian children into the Turkish education system. Under this project, as of 31 October 2017, 312,151 children have received Turkish language training by 5,486 Turkish language teachers employed under the project. 93 Arabic language teachers and 489 counsellors were also employed. 10,085 out-of-school Syrian children received catch-up training to facilitate their entry into school and 43,388 students are benefiting from on-going back-up training, with 32,351 benefitting from school transportation. The distribution of stationery and course books has started for 500,000 students. The aim is also to support the Ministry and increase its implementation and management capacity. Education Facility-funded activities – both from the humanitarian strand of the Facility with the Condition Cash Transfer for Education and education in emergencies, and the non-humanitarian strand – by non-governmental organisations and United Nations agencies complement the "Promoting Integration of Syrian Children into Turkish Education System"project. Particular attention is given to psychosocial support and social cohesion programmes. The United Nations Children's Fund, for instance, has already conducted such programmes for over 35,000 children, adolescents and youth. To provide opportunities for refugees in higher education, 332 students are receiving university scholarships through three projects and the number of supported pupils is planned to increase in the academic year 2018-2019. Facility interventions in the priority area of education have a short, medium and long-term perspective. With the support of Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau and the World Bank, the construction and equipping of 125 solid structure and 50 prefabricated schools should benefit 124,000 refugee children annually. Construction of the first schools has started.

Health The main pillar of Facility assistance in the priority area of health is the SIHHAT project, a EUR 300 million direct grant with the Turkish Ministry of Health to ensure refugees' access to healthcare services. Under the SIHHAT project, as of 31 December 2017, 12 Migrant Health Centres became operational to improve primary healthcare services. 813 staff have been employed in these centres and in the 86 other centres already established by the Ministry prior to the start of the project. Refugees have benefitted from 763,963 primary health care consultations and 217,511 Syrian refugee infants were fully vaccinated. The SIHHAT project should provide rehabilitative mental health services for up to one million refugees. In addition, family planning, prevention of communicable diseases, recruitment and training of healthcare staff and outreach activities will be provided. In an effort to facilitate access to health care services in the medium and long-term, the implementation of two hospitals in Kilis and Hatay has started, with a capacity of 300 and 250 beds respectively. Socio-economic support Socio-economic support plays a critical role in the integration of refugees into Turkish society and fosters much needed social and economic cohesion. As the language barrier is a major impediment to effective integration, the Facility is providing Turkish language classes to refugees. To improve the employability and labour market integration of refugees and vulnerable members of host communities, new projects will deliver vocational training to 15,100 people and 7,400 people will benefit from job search and counselling sessions. Entrepreneurship will be supported, through advisory support activities including through micro-grants. Institutional support for employment services is strengthening the capacity of the Turkish employment agency to provide counselling and job assistance and the capacity of the Turkish Ministry of Labour and Social Policy's systems to monitor the provision of work permits and employment services. Facility-funded community centres provide an extensive range of services, from training courses to information and referral services, to cultural and networking events in order to increase the resilience and self-reliance of refugees and host communities. Migration management The Facility has covered the costs incurred in the management of returns (transportation, hosting) of 212 Syrians and 1,076 non-Syrians, as well as logistical equipment and works on a removal centre for 750 people. From August 2017 to end-October, 16,733 migrants received Facility-funded assistance in removal centres. The Facility has also helped increase the capacity of the Turkish Coast Guard to carry out search and rescue operations. Six boats were delivered and 939 Turkish Coast Guard staff have been trained on humanitarian standards for sea border management. 5. Monitoring & evaluation and audit 5.1 Monitoring & evaluation The first draft of the Facility Results Framework was presented to the Steering Committee in March 2017, marking the start of the monitoring at Facility level. The first monitoring cycle was launched in May 2017 as a pilot exercise, followed by three further cycles in 2017. In parallel, the Commission adopted a EUR 14.3 million Support Measure for the monitoring, evaluation, audit and communication of the Facility. The monitoring findings were presented to the Steering Committee in June 2017 and November 2017. The Results Framework is being revisited in line with the data received from the four monitoring cycles so to provide comprehensive updates to the Steering Committee in 2018 and beyond. The Facility monitoring system is intended to be technically supported by an online monitoring platform that should facilitate data aggregation and analysis, and the visualisation of progress. The platform should be fully operational by mid-2018. In parallel, technical assistance is being mobilised to facilitate the integration of different components of the monitoring mechanism and to support the on-the-spot monitoring obligations contained in contracts under direct management. All the components of the comprehensive Facility monitoring system should be fully operational in the course of 2018. As a next step, work on the evaluation of the Facility will start. 5.2 Audit The European Court of Auditors officially launched its performance audit of the Facility on 17 October 2017. Publication of the Court's final report is due by end-2018. The audit focuses on the complementarity of Facility assistance, its delivery and monitoring, and a sample of humanitarian projects.