Brussels, 23/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - Further criticism emerged on Tuesday 22 March of the agreement reached by the EU and Turkey on virtually systematically returning migrants who have arrived in Greece to Turkey from 20 March (see EUROPE 11515).
In France, the country's Human Rights Defender, Jacques Toubon, told the National Assembly Law Commission on 22 March that the agreement was “not legally correct”, AFP reports.
The deal “could only be implemented if Turkey were deemed to be a safe country”, Toubon argued. “But it is not, particularly since, to be considered a safe country, a state has to have ratified the Geneva Convention without geographical limitations - which is not the case with Turkey”, he said.
Furthermore, the European Court of Human Rights “prohibits the return of a person to a country, including one deemed to be safe, if there is a risk that that country might return the person to another country where he/she would be at risk, whether this be his/her country of nationality or of residence”, Toubon continued. “That could very well happen with the Syrian nationals we are talking about today”, he said. “I believe that the international and European legality of this agreement must be seriously called into question”, he added.
UNHCR suspends some activities in Greece. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) also decided to distance itself from the agreement by redefining its role in the Greek “hotspots”, protesting against the detention of people who have arrived since 20 March. “Arrivals on Lesvos have so far continued. (On Tuesday 22 March) 934 people had arrived since Sunday. They are being held at a closed registration and temporary accommodation site in Moria on the east of the island. The remaining 880 people who arrived before Sunday are being hosted about a kilometre away at the Kara Tepe centre, which is run by the local municipality and remains an open facility”, said the UNHCR in a press release.
Previously, the UNHCR supported the authorities in the hotspots on the Greek islands, where refugees are welcomed, registered and assisted. “Under the new provisions, these sites have now become detention facilities. Accordingly, and in line with our policy on opposing mandatory detention, we have suspended some of our activities at all closed centres on the islands. This includes provision of transport to and from these sites”.
The UNHCR “is concerned that the EU-Turkey deal is being implemented before the required safeguards are in place in Greece. At present, Greece does not have sufficient capacity on the islands for assessing asylum claims, nor the proper conditions to accommodate people decently and safely pending an examination of their cases”.
The UNHCR is not a party to the EU-Turkey deal and will not be involved in returns or detention, it states, while giving assurances that it “will continue to assist the Greek authorities to develop an adequate reception capacity”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)