01/10/2016

EUMigrantDealWithTurkeyLargelyWorking,EuropeanCommissionSaysWSJ

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WORLD
EU Migrant Deal With Turkey Largely
Working, European Commission Says

85 people a day arriving since June, down from 1,700 a day in the month before the
agreement was made

ASyrianrefugeebathesher4yearoldsonatacampontheislandofChiosinGreece.TheEuropeanCommissionsaysit
wantsGreecetoimprovefacilitiesforasylumseekers.PHOTO:REUTERS

By VALENTINA POP
Sept. 28, 2016 8:17 a.m. ET
BRUSSELSThe European Unions deal with Turkey to prevent large flows of migrants
entering the bloc continues to work, but Greece still has to do more to improve
reception facilities for asylum seekers, the EUs executive arm said Wednesday.
In a set of reports on the blocs migration policy, the European Commission said that the
sharp and continued decrease of people crossing irregularly or losing their lives in the
Aegean proves that the deal, struck in March between the EU and Turkey, is working.
On average, some 85 people arrived every day since June, in comparison to over 1,700 a
day in the month before the deal and 7,000 a day in October 2015.

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01/10/2016

EUMigrantDealWithTurkeyLargelyWorking,EuropeanCommissionSaysWSJ

Over the past 12 months, we have come a long way, said migration commissioner
Dimitris Avramopoulos. But he added: The refugee crisis is not over; thats why the
progress made so far has to be sustainable.
However, part of the dealunder which one Syrian refugee would be resettled from
Turkey into Europe in return for every Syrian who crossed illegally from Turkey to
Greece and was sent backseems to have made little progress. Only 576 migrants had
been sent back from Greece to Turkey, mostly non-Syrians, while 1,614 Syrian refugees
had been resettled from Turkey to EU countries since March.
Mr. Avramopoulos said that while Greece has significantly increased its reception
capacity for refugees and adjusted laws to allow for legal aid and education of asylum
seekers, much more needs to be done for the country to have a functional asylum
system and to allow other EU countries to send asylum seekers back to Greece. Under
EU rules, migrants must file for asylum and stay in the first country of arrival or be
returned there from other EU countries.
But given the poor conditions for asylum seekers in Greece who sued in EU courts, EU
countries in recent years have refrained from sending asylum seekers back to Greece.
Mr. Avramopoulos said that the goal remains to improve conditions for a gradual
resumption of migrant transfers to Greece but that we need to avoid that an
unsustainable burden be put on Greece.
He called on countries to step up a parallel program of redistributing a total of 160,000
asylum seekers from Italy and Greece more evenly across the bloc. So far, only 5,651
migrants have been taken by other countries under that program.
In response to claims by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who regularly says
the EU hasnt paid a cent of the 3 billion ($3.4 billion) it promised as part of the
migration deal, the commission said a total of 2.2 billion has been allocated for
refugees in Turkey, out of which 1.2 billion has been contracted and 467 million
already paid.
The commission said it was continuing to work with the Turkish government to make
the legislative changes needed for the EU to grant Turkish citizens visa-free travel to the
bloc. The Council of Europe, the continents intergovernmental human rights body, is
involved in negotiations with Ankara on adjusting the countrys antiterror laws so as to
limit the prosecution of dissidents on terrorism charges.
The European Parliament and several EU governments have indicated that they won't
approve visa-free travel unless the use of the antiterror law is limited in scope, a change

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EUMigrantDealWithTurkeyLargelyWorking,EuropeanCommissionSaysWSJ

Mr. Erdogan has repeatedly refused to approve, citing security concerns related to the
Kurdish insurgency and the recent failed coup attempt.

Countries that introduced border checks within the border-free Schengen area in
response to last years migration crisis can keep those checks in place, the commission
said. The controls have been proportionate and justified, Mr. Avramopoulos said,
adding that in November, a decision will be made on whether border checks put in place
by Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Norway should be extended by another six
months.
Write to Valentina Pop at valentina.pop@wsj.com

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