EU considers 3.5 billion euro migrant funding for Turkey, diplomats say

FILE PHOTO: Migrants walk towards Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing with Greece's Kastanies, in Edirne, Turkey March 8, 2020. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir/File Photo

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union is considering 3.5 billion euros ($4.18 billion) for Turkey to continue hosting Syrian refugees until 2024, two diplomats said on Wednesday, part of a bigger regional refugee support plan to stop migrants reaching the bloc.

The total 5.77 billion euro package for Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, which goes to humanitarian projects and not governments, aims to prevent a new refugee influx into the EU and win time until the 10-year Syrian civil war eventually ends.