Antalya, 16/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - In their final statement on Monday 16 November in Antalya, Turkey, G20 leaders said that “The scale of the ongoing refugee crisis is a global concern with major humanitarian, political, social and economic consequences”.
The 20 major global powers are advocating a “coordinated” response in an effort to “find durable solutions for the unprecedented numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons in various parts of the world”. They believe that these solutions are possible by making more effort in areas of reception and resettlement and by strengthening support to international humanitarian (UNHCR, WFP) and financial organisations involved in the management of this phenomenon. In the medium term, G20 leaders also consider that they need to tackle the “root causes” of these population displacements, in an effort to promote a peaceful return to the countries of origin.
The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, pointed out that “Over 750,000 people have applied for asylum in Europe in the first nine months of 2015, and the sheer scale of the refugee flow shows no signs of abating any time soon”.
With his counterpart at the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, he referred to the EU/Turkey action plan currently being developed, which seeks to contain the flows of migrants to Europe and which he has been discussing with the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the host of the G20 summit (see EUROPE 11404). In exchange for financial aid (€3 billion, of which €500 million will come from the EU budget), the Europeans want the Turks to open up their labour market to refugees, increase the number of migrant interceptions and apply the readmission agreement. Turkey is demanding progress to be made in the EU accession negotiations and in the area of visa liberalisation for Turkish nationals. A special bilateral summit may take place on Sunday 29 November in Brussels, in this connection.
Erdogan explained “Turkey is taking in 2.5 million Syrian refugees and 300,000 Iraqis. We have opened our doors without any discussion having to take place about beliefs” and highlighted the need to avoid any confusion being made between refugees and potential terrorists, following the terrorist attacks in Paris (see other article). His US counterpart, Barack Obama, believes that Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan cannot be left on their own to manage the flows of Syrian refugees. He said that they “can and must do both”: taking refugees and guarantee the security of their citizens. He pointed out that the US had until now provided $4.5 billion in humanitarian aid in response to the Syrian crisis.
The day before, in an effort to explain the global character of the migration challenge, Juncker indicated that one in 122 people in the world was a refugee, displaced person or asylum seeker. He also explained that “If that were a country it would be the 24th largest country in the world. This is a global problem and this global problem is inviting us to give a global and common answer”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)