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UN refugee agency criticises 'quick fix' EU-Turkey deal EU-Turkey deal could see Syrian refugees back in war zones, says UN
(about 1 hour later)
The UN refugee agency has said the European Union’s “quick fix” deal to send back refugees en masse to Turkey would contravene their right to protection under European and international law. A senior UN official says he is very concerned that a hasty EU deal with Turkey could leave Syrian refugees unprotected and at risk of being sent back to a war zone.
EU leaders welcomed Turkey’s offer on Monday to take back all migrants who cross into Europe from its soil and agreed in principle to Ankara’s demands for more money, faster EU membership talks and quicker visa-free travel in return. Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, questioned the legality of an outline deal struck by the EU and Turkey.
Vincent Cochetel, Europe regional director of the UN high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR), said Europe’s commitment to resettle 20,000 refugees over two years, on a voluntary basis, remained “very low”. “As a first reaction I am deeply concerned about any arrangement that would involve the blanket return of anyone from one country to another, without spelling out the refugee protection safeguards under international law,” he said on Tuesday.
“The collective expulsion of foreigners is prohibited under the European convention of human rights,” Cochetel told a news briefing in Geneva.
Related: Turkey and EU agree outline of 'one in, one out' deal over Syria refugee crisisRelated: Turkey and EU agree outline of 'one in, one out' deal over Syria refugee crisis
“An agreement that would be tantamount to a blanket return to a third country is not consistent with European law, not consistent with international law,” he said. At the heart of the deal between the EU and Turkey is a controversial refugee exchange programme. Under the plan, Syrian refugees on the Greek islands would be returned to Turkey, while European countries would take asylum seekers currently living in Turkey.
Europe had not even fulfilled its agreement last September to relocate 66,000 refugees from Greece, redistributing only 600 to date within the bloc, Cochetel said earlier. Speaking to the European parliament in Strasbourg, Grandi said asylum seekers should only be returned to other states if they are guaranteed that they are not then sent back to the place they had fled. The country of return also has to ensure asylum seekers have access to work, healthcare, education and social assistance, Grandi said.
“What didn’t happen from Greece, will it happen from Turkey? We’ll see, I have some doubts,” he said on Swiss radio RTS. Separately, Vincent Cochetel, the UN high commissioner for refugees’ (UNHCR)regional director for Europe, said an EU commitment to resettle 20,000 refugees over two years, on a voluntary basis, remained “very low”.
Turkey is home to nearly 3 million Syrian refugees, the largest number worldwide, but its acceptance rates for refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq and Iraq were “very low”, about 3%, Cochetel said. “The collective expulsion of foreigners is prohibited under the European convention of human rights,” Cochetel told a news briefing in Geneva.
“I hope that in the next 10 days a certain number of supplementary guarantees will be put in place so that people sent back to Turkey will have access to an examination of their request [for asylum].” The UNHCR called on Europe to ensure safeguards for refugees being returned to the Middle East at an EU summit next week.
UNHCR spokesman William Spindler said: “Legal safeguards would need to govern any mechanism under which responsibility would be transferred for assessing an asylum claim.” EU leaders have hailed the one-for-one plan as a breakthrough that would deter Syrians from making the dangerous sea crossing across the Aegean.
The UN Children’s Fund voiced deep concerns about the agreement, noting that “too many details still remain unclear”. Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European commission, insisted that sending refugees back to Turkey was legal and in line with the Geneva convention. Citing specific paragraphs in the EU’s asylum procedure directive, he said countries could refuse to consider refugee claims if there was a safe place to send them back to. As Greece had decided Turkey was “a safe country”, he said, the returns policy was legal.
“The fundamental principle of ‘do no harm’ must apply every step of way,” Unicef spokeswoman Sarah Crowe told the briefing. Human rights groups are not convinced. Amnesty International has said it is “absurd” to describe Turkey as a safe third country. The group says that some Syrians have been returned to Syria and been shot at while trying to cross the Turkish border.
“That means first and foremost that children’s right to claim international protection must be guaranteed. Children should not to be returned if they face risks including detention, forced recruitment, trafficking or exploitation.” Grandi reminded his audience that the Syrian conflict was entering its sixth year, and said Syrian refugees were facing “increasingly difficult” conditions in Jordan and Lebanon: 90% live below the poverty lines as they are not able to work and have run down all their savings.
In a veiled rebuke to the EU, he said Afghans, who are not deemed to have legitimate asylum claims by many European states, also had “urgent protection needs”.
According to the UNHCR, 31 out of Afghanistan’s 34 regions saw a surge in people fleeing conflict last year. The number of internally displaced Afghans has risen to 1m people, up 78%.
In a speech timed to coincide with International Women’s Day, the Grandi said people often didn’t realise how many women and children were fleeing conflicts around the world.
Grandi said: “In public opinion the image [of a refugee] is often of young single men arriving in Europe to look for work. Today, on International Women’s Day, I wish to report that nearly two thirds are women and children.”