EU strikes deal with Turkey to send back refugees
Refugees and migrants arriving in Greece from Sunday will be returned to Turkey in deal to ‘re-energise’ talks on its EU membership
The EU has struck a deal with Turkey that would mean all refugees and migrants arriving in Europe from Sunday would be sent back across the Aegean sea.
The European council president, Donald Tusk, cleared key sticking points with the Turkish prime minister, Ahmet DavutoÄŸlu, during talks on Friday morning. “The Turkey agreement has been approved,” Finland’s prime minister, Juha Sipila, said on Twitter.
The agreement means that all refugees and migrants arriving in Greece from Sunday can expect to be returned to Turkey. The accord, which is expected to be formally signed off later on Friday, represents a climbdown by Turkey, which had been pushing to restart talks in five areas.
In return for taking back refugees, Turkey can expect “re-energised” talks on its EU membership, with the promise of negotiations on one policy area to be opened before July.
The EU has also agreed to speed up the disbursement of €3bn (£2.3bn) intended to help Syrian refugees in Turkey, with new projects to be agreed this week.
Turkey has promised that all returned people will be treated in line with international law, including guarantees that they will not be returned to the countries they have fled from.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan, earlier criticised Europe’s “shameful” record on refugees, as the two sides struggled to reach a deal aimed at stemming the flow of people to Greece.
About 45,000 people are trapped in Greece, including 14,000 who are living in squalid conditions near the Greek-Macedonian border at Idomeni, as they are barred from travelling onwards to central and northern Europe.
No comments:
Post a Comment