(VOVworld) - The EU announced plans Thursday to distribute debit cards to refugees in Turkey to help them meet basic needs as part of a multi-billion euro aid deal with Ankara to curb the flow of migrants to Europe.

Migrants and refugees queue at a camp to be registered after crossing the Macedonian-Greek border near Gevgelija in September 2015 (Photo: AFP)

Working with Turkish and UN officials, the European Union said it would launch the program next month to distribute EU-funded debit cards that would help up to one million of Turkey's nearly three million refugees, most of them Syrian. EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Christos Stylianides said refugees in need of humanitarian assistance would receive an electronic debit card and would get monthly cash transfers. Stylianides said the plan was aimed at "the most vulnerable", was more dignified than offering food hand-outs, and would also boost the economics of Turkish communities where the refugees lived.