Geneva
convention, Turkey visa demands trouble EU states
By NIKOLAJ NIELSEN
BRUSSELS, 10. MAR,
18:32
EU states are
pushing to designate Turkey as a safe country to return unwanted
migrants from Europe despite Ankara's patchy application of the
Geneva convention. Some countries also question allowing visa-free
travel to 75 million Turks.
The safe-country
move is being driven by a provisional deal between EU states and
Turkey earlier this week as well as intense political pressure from
Berlin.
Speaking to
reporters in Brussels on Wednesday (10 March), EU migration
commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said it was the EU's "duty"
to designate Turkey as a safe third country.
"It is a
European position, but it has to be elaborated more in the days to
come," he said.
Months of internal
wrangling among EU leaders on how to best stop the flows from Turkey
to Greece has led to internal border closures and a rapid rise of
far-right groups.
Hopes are now
hinging that the latest plan with Turkey will convince would-be
asylum seekers not to seek out the help of smugglers to reach the EU.
Any Syrian that uses
a smuggler to reach a Greek island will be returned to Turkey. Back
in Turkey, the Syrian will be knocked to the bottom of a list of
people who want to resettle to an EU state.
"I think it's a
perfect system," said Theo Francken, Belgium's right-wing state
secretary for migration.
No visas for Turks
Visa restrictions
will also be lifted for some 75 million Turks in June in exchange
once Ankara meets 72 EU commission benchmarks. It has so far met 35.
The EU executive,
for its part, says it won't bend standards to meet the new visa
liberalisation deadline but remains convinced the target can be met.
Strong resistance to
the mov is already emerging from chancellor Angela Merkel’s CSU
sister party. Grumblings are also surfacing in France with
presidential contender Nicolas Sarkozy voicing objections.
"It is highly
questionable that Turkey, which puts a newspaper critical of the
government under its own control, presents a wish-list three days
later and is rewarded by discussions about earlier visa
liberalisation," said Austrian interior minister Johanna
Mikl-Leitner.
The June date
coincides with the launch of an EU readmission agreement with Turkey
to include non-Turkish nationals.
The EU-Turkey
readmission pact, launched in October 2014, is currently for Turkish
nationals only. Although initially foreseen for 2017, this will
change in June, to include third-country nationals like Syrians.
The Geneva test
Meanwhile, interior
ministers met in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss how to get the new
Turkey plan up and running despite the legal and political hurdles.
Among the biggest
issues are ensuring Turkey complies with Geneva convention rules for
refugees as well as international standards on asylum.
Refugees under the
convention are supposed to be guaranteed full access to jobs,
education, and safety.
"The Geneva
convention is the Gospel of our relations with all countries,"
said Avramopoulos.
But Turkey's
"geographical limitation" in the convention means only
European nationals can be granted full refugee status.
Rights group have
also documented cases where Turkey sent people back to war zones.
Amnesty
International last November said around 80 Syrians in the Turkish
city of Erzurum were kicked out.
The restrictions and
documented abuse have thrown a legal spanner into the EU plan.
EU officials,
however, remain convinced they can work around them ahead of next
week's EU summit.
Dutch interior
minister Klaas Dijkhoff, speaking on behalf of the EU rotating
presidency, said Turkey "already qualifies".
"A lot of these
things, Turkey is already on board and they are already doing it,"
he said.
Relocation
Previous proposals
largely hinged EU hopes on getting a stalled relocation scheme up and
running.
Launched last
September, the scheme was supposed to disperse 160,000 asylum seekers
from Italy and Greece to other EU states over a two-year period.
But there are few
takers with only just over 880 relocated to date. Avramopoulos said
the new target is to relocate 6,000 a month.
"If relocation
does not work, the whole system will collapse."
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