Only 189 migrants returned to Turkey despite refugee deal with the EU

EPA/YANNIS KOLESIDIS GREECE OUT
A resident waves to an overcrowded fishing boat carrying refugees and migrants after they crossed the Aegean sea from Turkey, Greece, 11 October 2015. A recently agreed European Union plan to relocate tens of thousands of asylum seekers from Italy and Greece elsewhere in the bloc will start at the end of this week, a top EU official said 06 October. Lesbos - the third-largest Greek island and home to nearly 90,000 people - has been overwhelmed with migrants from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq trying to reach Europe. More than 200,000 refugees arrived on the island this year alone, according to the UN refugee agency. Many of the refugees begin their journey to Lesbos across sparkling Aegean waters in Turkey.

- Advertisement -

According to a new EU Commission report, despite the 2016 refugee deal between the EU and Turkey, only 189 irregular migrants who crossed the Aegean Sea to Greece were returned to Turkey in 2019.
Under the deal, Turkey has promised to stop the flow of Syrian migrants travelling to the EU, which in return has promised to reexamine membership talks for Turkey’s EU accession.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has recently warned the EU for an incoming refugee wave from Syria’s Idlib province, saying that “the negative impact of the pressure we will be subjected to will be something that all European nations, especially Greece, will also feel”.
The report found that 1,995 Syrian asylum seekers were returned to Turkey from 2016 to 2019:  801 in 2016, 683 in 2017, 332 in 2018 and 189 in 2019. Meanwhile, in the same period, the EU has resettled 25,660 Syrians coming via Turkey.
Turkey has received a total of €6 billion in funding, €3 billion in 2016 and €3 billion in 2018. However, Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has recently accused the EU of failing to provide the financial aid agreed in the deal.
The refugee deal was also discussed by Erdogan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during her visit to the country last week.

- Advertisement -

Subscribe to our newsletter

Latest

EU Commission plans Russian gas phaseout as MEPs propose easing pre-winter storage targets

Ensuring gas supply security ahead of the winter season,...

What chance for peace in Sudan?

The conflict in Sudan has raged for two years,...

The ruling of the EU Court on “Golden passports” and the consequences in Tirana

“Whatever the European Court decides," and “If it says...

Don't miss

EU Commission plans Russian gas phaseout as MEPs propose easing pre-winter storage targets

Ensuring gas supply security ahead of the winter season,...

What chance for peace in Sudan?

The conflict in Sudan has raged for two years,...

The ruling of the EU Court on “Golden passports” and the consequences in Tirana

“Whatever the European Court decides," and “If it says...

Taking off: Qatar’s strategic rise in global aviation

For Qatar, an important development took place recently as...

The dance begins: Rubio and Lavrov engage (alone) on Ukraine

Clearly working overtime to move the U.S.-Russia peace effort for Ukraine forward, both countries’ foreign ministers met on February 18 in Riyadh for the...

Undeclared “open season” on energy infrastructure in Europe

Russia is claiming it has shot down nine Ukrainian drones that tried to attack the TurkStream pipeline, which carries Russian gas to Europe through...

Kazakhstan’s bold leap towards establishing an academic hub

The ConnectED 2024 conference, held in Astana on October 17-18, marked a significant milestone in Kazakhstan’s ambition to become a leading academic and research...

Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan railways upgrading the Middle Corridor

Much has been reported in the last few years about the steady progress across Central Asia and the Caucasus in establishing the so-called “Middle...

Washington orders new sanctions against Hamas’ sham fundraising network

Going after key elements of the Hamas European fundraising network on the anniversary of the Gaza war, on October 7 the U.S. Treasury Department’s...

The European Legion’s Activities in Libya

NATO seems to be seeking to intervene in Libya’s internal affairs and impose its control over the Libyan people’s oil and gas capabilities using...

New wave of U.S. sanctions target Russia’s foreign suppliers and industrial base

On May 1, the U.S. Department of State together with the U.S. Treasury Department unveiled a wide-ranging new list of anti-Russia sanctions covering an...

Wider Middle East regional conflict must be avoided

In a moment of growing tensions in the Middle East, NE Global sat down for an interview about the Iran-Israel crisis with Giuseppe Manna,...