UK envoy praises Turkey's refugee policy

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - The U.K.'s top envoy in the Turkish capital has praised Turkey's efforts in tackling the refugee crisis, saying, "it is a model for other countries".

"Because of Turkey’s amazingly generous response to the civil war in Syria, in the last five years, Turkey has changed from being a transit country to a destination hub for migrants," the newly-appointed U.K. envoy to Turkey Dominick Chilcott told Tuesday a meeting on "Migration: Global Challenges, Local Perspectives" in Ankara.

Defining Turkey's efforts in the refugee crisis as "great humanitarian effort", he said: "The way Turkey has integrated refugees into their health, education and other systems is a model for other countries in responding to a surge of refugees. All of us in the international community are learning lessons from Turkey on how to respond to protracted refugee crises."

He further recalled the U.K.'s joint efforts with Turkey in the refugee crisis and stated the U.K. with Turkish partners was running "13 projects with a budget of about $5 million," under "the Migration Returns Fund" program.