The European Commission is of the opinion that the management of migrant flows, as set out in EU-Turkey declaration of March 2016, is working properly. European Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos has pointed out that the average number of migrants arriving daily on the Greek islands has fallen to 43 units, compared with the 10,000 migrants recorded per day in October 2015 (see EUROPE 11515).
However, the Commission still thinks that the section of the declaration on 'the return of irregular migrants' continues to fail. In a report published on Thursday 2 March, the Commission says that return operations continue to take place and that a total of 1,487 returns have been carried out since the declaration started to be applied. However, the arrivals remain more than the returns from Greece to Turkey, which puts additional pressure on the Greek islands
The measures set out in the joint action plan (such as the implementation of an effective follow-up system for the files, the imposition of geographical restrictions and the creation of sufficient capacity for reception) are expected to enable a rise in the number of migrant returns. On Thursday, Avramopoulos called on the relevant Greek authorities to speed up these procedures.
55 requests for protection in Turkey from non-Syrians. As regards the returns, the people who are sent back are those who have been denied their request for asylum in Greece or who have not requested protection. Since the last report in February, 64 Syrians have returned to Turkey, as well as Pakistanis, Algerians, Moroccans, Bengalis, Iranians, Nigerians and Iraqis.
According to the data provided by the Turkish authorities, 55 people of nationality other than Syrian have requested asylum in Turkey since 4 April 2016 (the date when the 'returns' section of the EU-Turkey declaration was activated). Just one person has obtained the protection requested, according to the Commission report, while 43 are awaiting a decision and four have been denied it. Around 10,529 people who did not request protection in Turkey have been sent back to their country of origin. Out of the Syrians who have been sent back, 10 chose to voluntary return to Syria. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)