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

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

European Union auditors said on Wednesday that they are unable to establish whether some of the billions of euros the bloc has given to Turkey to help it cope with Syrian refugees is actually having any impact.

Under a deal concluded between EU leaders and Turkey in 2016, the bloc committed to provide at least $6.4 billion to Turkey to help it cope with migrants crossing in from Syria. Turkey in turn committed to stop migrants leaving its territory for Europe.

16 DEAD, INCLUDING 4 CHILDREN, AFTER MIGRANT BOAT SINKS OFF THE COAST OF TURKEY

In March 2016, a month after the deal came into effect, Turkey’s government said the number of migrants crossing illegally into Greece had dropped from around 6,000 per day in November 2015 to about 130 daily.

In 2021, the leaders announced plans to send a further $3.2 billion for refugees in Turkey. The pact, which was hailed in Europe as a great success, served as a template for other more recent and elaborate deals with Tunisia and Egypt.

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Migrants wait in line for a distribution of blankets close to the Turkish-Greek border near Pazarkule, Edirne region, Turkey, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. European Union auditors said on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, they are unable to establish whether some of the billions of euros the bloc has given to Turkey to help it cope with Syrian refugees is actually having any impact. EU leaders and Turkey in 2016, committed to provide at least $6.4 billion to Turkey to help it cope with migrants crossing in from Syria.  (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Money from the agreement is used to supply cash cards to some of the more than 4 million registered refugees, as well as to improve education and health, help people to better integrate and to build facilities in Turkey that people fleeing the war in Syria might need.

But the European Court of Auditors, or ECA, in a follow-up last year on whether the money was being used effectively, said that Turkey’s education ministry had refused to provide information that might allow them to assess what impact EU projects are having.

“I’m quite sure that European citizens would like to see some results coming out of the various development and humanitarian projects that the EU is funding,” ECA member Bettina Jakobsen told reporters.

According to the European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch, at least $566 million was destined to “support quality inclusive education of refugees in Turkey.” It’s meant to pay teacher salaries and provide education equipment, Turkish language and teacher training, as well as counselling and other guidance.

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Auditors sought a list of the schools receiving EU support and the number of refugee pupils who are attending, as well as information on whether children who were not in education had been reintegrated into the school system and their exam pass rates, compared to Turkish students.

Without the data, Jakobsen underlined, “we are not able to conclude on measuring impact or sustainability” of the education projects underwritten by the EU.

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

“We do know that data should normally exist,” said the auditor, who under ECA regulations could not be named. “It’s not up to us to guess why or why not they don’t want to provide the data.”

An ECA official noted that it is relatively rare for authorities to fail to cooperate with auditors.

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The auditors and officials from the commission, which is responsible for ensuring that the bloc’s money is correctly spent, made joint and individual requests for the information, but without success.

The auditors were able to visit some schools, as well as hospitals, which benefit from EU funds and could see that the facilities were used by refugees and Turkish pupils and that teachers were working there.

In general, given the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, a major earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria in February 2023, and Turkey’s rampant inflation, the auditors found that the EU funding package “provided relevant support to refugees and host communities” in Turkey.

But Jakobsen also noted that auditors “found weaknesses in the commission’s assessment of project budgets” and said the EU’s executive branch “did not systematically assess whether project costs were reasonable or compare similar costs between different projects.”

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Two-train crash leaves at least 1 dead, 89 injured as emergency crews rush to chaotic scene

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Two-train crash leaves at least 1 dead, 89 injured as emergency crews rush to chaotic scene

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Authorities are responding after two passenger trains crashed into each other Friday near Bedford, England, killing at least one person and injuring nearly 90 others.

The East of England Ambulance Service said it was called to a collision involving two trains at Elstow, near Bedford, at about 5:15 p.m. local time and quickly declared a “major incident.”

One person died at the scene, 11 people suffered very serious injuries, 22 were seriously injured and 56 people had minor injuries, officials said.

Bedford is roughly 60 miles north of London.

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2 TRAINS COLLIDE IN DENMARK, LEAVING 5 PEOPLE CRITICALLY INJURED

Two passenger trains collided Friday in the United Kingdom. (Fox News)

All the patients with the most serious injuries have been taken from the scene to hospital.

The ambulance service said it sent numerous resources to the scene, including more than 20 ambulances, specialist hazardous area response teams and six air ambulances.

MULTIPLE STABBED IN UK TRAIN ATTACK NEAR CAMBRIDGE AS POLICE ARREST 2 SUSPECTS

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Emergency crews were pictured working near the scene. (Fox News)

“Our thoughts are with everyone affected, and we thank all emergency service colleagues for their swift response,” the ambulance service wrote in a statement.

The Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed its crews were also responding.

“Please avoid the area,” fire officials wrote in a statement on X.

Sources told The Telegraph the train driver was on the phone with maintenance staff discussing a safety issue at the time of the crash.

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This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Lebanese influencer organises World Cup event amid Israel’s attack on Leban

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Lebanese influencer organises World Cup event amid Israel’s attack on Leban
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As Israel’s war on Lebanon rages, hundreds gather in Rmeileh by Sidon Gate to watch the 2026 World Cup. Organised by influencer Bilal Haddad, the fan zone offers food trucks, shisha and family activities, giving people a rare chance to relax. Al Jazeera’s Justin Salhani went to check it out.

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On the South Lawn, a UFC fighter’s victory frames an unusual White House scene

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On the South Lawn, a UFC fighter’s victory frames an unusual White House scene

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mark Schiefelbein has been based in Washington, D.C., with AP for about three years, and before that spent a decade in Beijing at AP’s China bureau.

Here’s what he had to say about this extraordinary photo.

Why this photo?

This was an event that had never happened before in the 250-year history of the United States and may never happen again: a night of mixed martial-arts cage match brawls on the South Lawn of the White House, with bloodied competitors battling it out in front of the president, vice president, and other leaders of the country. AP had other photographers ringside at the event focusing more on the fights themselves. So I felt my role was to capture the context of the evening — the location, the people in attendance, the environment.

How I made this photo

A small group of other photographers and I, the White House press pool, had been allowed to photograph part of the evening from a position in the stands directly opposite the White House. I was carrying four cameras with a variety of lenses from 12 mm to 300 mm. This let me capture everything from ultra-wide views of the “claw” structure built for the fights, to close-ups of leaders and celebrities in attendance. I had been following Diego Lopes with my longest lens as he moved around the ring celebrating his win over Steve Garcia. When I saw him start to climb onto the cage, I immediately realized there might be a possibility of a picture like this and zoomed out to capture more of the scene.

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Why this photo works

The White House is surely one of the most recognizable buildings in the world. The columns of the South Portico, the fighter standing with arms and legs spread wide in celebration, and the octagon padding of the UFC ring tell an entire story as your eyes move from top to bottom of the frame. With Lopes standing with his back to the camera, facing the White House, it becomes less a photo of him and more about the evening, the event, and the spectacle. It was fortunate that it was after nightfall, so things that might have been distracting, like the Marine Band and spectators seated behind the ring, are mostly in the dark. Only the key elements – the White House, Lopes, and the ring are lit up.

For more extraordinary AP photography, click here.

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