UK providing £3m in UK aid to train Turkish border forces

Today a Guardian investigation revealed that the UK is providing £3m in UK aid to Turkish border forces to prevent migrants from reaching the UK.

Earlier this year, provisional government statistics revealed that the Home Office spent £2,397 million of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2022, an increase of £1,356 million (130.2%).

In reaction to the investigation, Paul Abernethy, Co-Head of Policy and Advocacy at Bond, said:

“The government claims they want to be a trusted development partner on the world stage but time and time again they undermine the good work UK aid supports in lower-income countries with their actions. Diverting an already diminished UK aid budget in this way does nothing but hurt the most marginalised communities in the world and undermines the British taxpayer’s trust in UK aid. The UK government must urgently stop undermining the purpose of UK aid and immediately reverse the cuts to the UK aid budget.”