Brussels, 19/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 18 November, the Greek and Turkish prime ministers, Alexis Tsipras and Ahmet Davutoglu respectively, made a commitment in Ankara to pool their efforts “urgently” to contain the flows of refugees to the EU from Turkish territory, according to French news agency AFP. During a meeting, the two men agreed to strengthen cooperation between their migration services and coastguards, and to fight against the trafficking of human beings.
Tsipras said that for both countries, “our priority should be to put a stop to this humanitarian tragedy in the Aegean Sea”. He added: “this is an international crisis and no one can tackle it alone”.
He also appealed for further joint efforts following the Paris attacks on 13 November, which highlighted a link between the attackers and migratory flows into the EU. The Greek-Turkish border is a particular source of concern for Europe, especially for France which, in a preparatory note for the extraordinary Justice in the Home Affairs Council on 20 November, called for greater surveillance to be carried out at this border.
France also demands that the migrants who arrive in the EU be systematically subject to strict security vetting and be added to the SIS or Interpol databases. In addition, it demands that the most exposed borders, such as the border between Greece and Turkey, be swiftly reinforced, and it demands that in urgent cases, after proceeding to the Schengen assessment mechanism, rapid action border intervention teams (RABIT) from the Frontex agency be deployed at the Greek-Turkish border.
Turkey has currently taken in around 2.2 million refugees on its soil. The EU and Turkey are now preparing an action plan to help Turkey regulate the numbers of those arriving or going on to the EU. The Commission has proposed providing Turkey with a budget of €3 billion over a two-year period, but during a debate in Brussels on Wednesday 18 November, the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said that this would “not be the last word” on helping Turkey improve its control of the border with Greece and on helping Turkey provide integration opportunities on its own territory (particularly jobs) for Syrian refugees. In exchange, Turkey would commit to full implementation of the readmission agreement signed in 2013 with the Commission, which makes it incumbent on Turkey to take back people who entered the EU illegally.
More than 650,000 people have arrived on the Greek islands since the beginning of 2015, mainly by way of this route through Turkey, according to the International Organisation for Migration. There are so far also 512 people who have lost their lives there. (Solenn Paulic)