Arab diaspora

Notwithstanding a rise in tensions between Brussels and Ankara - recently exacerbated by Turkey's increasingly aggressive stance toward Greece and Cyprus - the European Commission will be approving an additional 3 billion euros in funding for Syrian refugees living in Turkey, EU officials said on Wednesday.

Bulgaria has so far accepted 10 migrants from Italy and 50 from Greece under EU quotas, according to latest European Commission data, quoted by BTA. From Turkey there are no Syrian refugees accepted in our country, and our country has committed to shelter 160 people.

The European Union's executive is due to approve a further 3 billion euros in funding for Syrian refugees living in Turkey, EU officials said, ahead of a meeting with President Tayyip Erdogan later this month. 

Three Spanish firefighters working with the NGO Proemaid on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos are looking for support from European Parliament ahead of standing trial on May 7 on charges of migrant smuggling, Euronews reported on Wednesday.

Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, hosts the highest number of Syrian refugees in the country, according to official figures.

A substantial portion of the funds promised by the European Union (EU) to help Syrian refugees in Turkey is still not being used actively to meet their needs, Turkey's EU Ministry said on Saturday.

The European Union has finished contracting three billion euros that will be used for Syrian refugees in Turkey, the head of the EU delegation in Ankara has announced, informing that all these funds will be distributed under 72 separate projects.

A court in northern Greece has sentenced 23 people to prison terms ranging from eight to 1,489 years for smuggling Iraqi and Syrian refugees into the country from the Turkish border in 2015 and 2016.

The European Commission is committed to completing the contracting of all three billion euros in assistance to Syrian refugees in Turkey before the end of this year, senior EU officials have vowed, adding that the process for the allocation of the additional three billion euros will start in early 2018.

Underage Syrian refugees toil in Izmir's factories. Read the story here.

Reporting: Yiannis Papadopoulos/ Camera: Enri Canaj/ Video editing: Stefania Giannikou