Brussels, 29/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission said on Tuesday 29 March that it is still aiming for the EU-Turkey agreement reached on 18 March to begin to be implemented on 4 April. The agreement foresees the sending to Turkey of immigrants who arrived in Greece and whose asylum application is deemed invalid by the Greek authorities.
The date of 4 April for initiating the first returns “remains the target” said Natasha Bertaud, spokeswoman for migration at the European Commission.
Clouds have been gathering over this agreement (see EUROPE 11519), and the Greek authorities have explained that the legislative changes required to get the agreement applied would be discussed this week by the Greek parliament and that the law will be introduced using an emergency procedure. The European Commission has asked Greece to ensure that failed asylum applicants in Greece have fair means for challenging the rejection of their application. The Commission has also asked Greece to designate Turkey as a safe third country, explained Bertaud, but no legislation to this end is planned in the country, the idea being to decide on Turkey being a safe third country on a case-by-case basis for each asylum applicant in turn, explained a spokesperson for the Greek representation to the EU on Thursday 24 March.
Under a bilateral readmissions agreement with Turkey, the Greek authorities sent 76 illegal immigrants not eligible for international protection to Turkey on 24 March, and 71 on 25 March, added Bertaud.
There has been a sharp fall in the numbers of immigrants reaching Greece from Turkey over the past few days, with 1,000 arriving over the course of last week, compared with often 2,000 a day at the start of the year, which the spokeswoman described as an “encouraging” sign.
She said that the talks with NGOs in Greek hotspots were continuing. Several associations, such as Médecins sans Frontières and even the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), have criticised the way refugees arriving in Greece since 20 March are being held in detention.
Turkey is required to provide protection equivalent to the Geneva Convention for all refugees on its soil, irrespective of their nationality. It must also specifically ensure through legislation that Syrians whose requests for asylum were rejected in Greece can have their international protection renewed when they are returned to Turkey. The Turkish authorities made it clear that they refused to change legislation, but talks are under way between Ankara and European Commission special coordinator for the EU-Turkey agreement, Maarten Verwey, to find a solution. Verwey is due to travel to Turkey again this week for further talks.
Monitoring appearance of new migration routes.
In Brussels on Friday after a meeting with the prime minister of Montenegro, Milo Dukanovic (see other article), the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, said one must not forget that there is still work to be done concerning the appearance of other migration routes into the EU, including from the central Mediterranean, and this was an issue that needed to be focused on. He praised the efforts of the countries in question to close the Balkans route, efforts that had led to a “visible reduction” in the wave of refugees, and said that implementation of the EU-Turkey migration agreement, in line with European values, was crucial for dealing with the humanitarian crisis in Greece.
On Monday 28 March, Italian coastguards announced that they had rescued nearly 1,500 migrants off the Libyan coast over the Easter weekend. This phenomenon is likely to continue with the arrival of spring and application of the EU-Turkey agreement to curb the flow of migrants across the Aegean Sea. French news agency AFP says that the nationality of the rescued migrants has not been revealed. Since the start of the year, nearly 15,000 people have arrived in Italy, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), up 42% on the same period last year. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with Mathieu Bion)