EU to spend hundreds of millions more on refugees in Turkey

The European Union plans to spend hundreds of millions of euros over the next year helping refugees living in Turkey, most of them people who fled the war in Syria.

The EU's executive body, the European Commission, said Wednesday that it is extending two programs, one that provides cash assistance to refugees in Turkey to meet their basic needs and the other that provides funds to help educate children.

The programs will be extended until early 2022 at a total cost of 485 million euros ($590 million).

The commission said they provide much-needed cash to more than 1.8 million refugees and help educate more than 700,000 children. The programs are managed by the Turkish Red Crescent in partnership with the Red Cross and UNICEF. Money does not go directly to Turkey's government.

Turkey is home to almost 4 million refugees. Around 70% are women and children,...