Plan to give migrants debit cards loaded with cash blasted for making Europe ‘more attractive’
Brits to pay £35 million towards aid credits loaded on the plastic every month to encourage refugees to stay in Turkey
NEARLY a million refugees are to be given debit cards by the European Commission in a £295 million plan to keep them in Turkey.
Aid credits will be loaded onto the plastic every month to help the migrants “buy what they need”.
EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Christos Sylianides said the scheme would be aimed at the most vulnerable and was more dignified than offering food hand-outs.
The UK will contribute around £35 million under an existing EU aid agreement with Turkey.
Brussels agreed to hand Turkey £3 billion earlier this year if Ankara did more to stop migrants attempting to cross the Aegean Sea to Greece and the rest of Europe.
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Mr Sylianides said: “This is the largest humanitarian programme the EU has ever financed.”
“The refugees in need of humanitarian assistance will receive an electronic debit card.”
“They get monthly cash transfers to the card. And of course they will be able to buy what they need to put bread on the table for their families, to provide a roof for their families, to send their children to school instead of being forced to send them to work.”
Tory Eurosceptic Nigel Mills said the scheme could end up giving migrants more incentive to try to reach the EU. He told the Sun: “This doesn’t look like a solution. It could create an ever bigger problem on the edge of Europe.”
The debit card scheme is being developed with the UN World Programme and Turkish Ministers.