Other conditions of the deal included the protection of refugees as well as the respect for human rights and compliance with the Geneva Convention. However, Turkey apparently managed to soften the EU's demands in this field.
In the original draft of the agreement, Turkey had a "commitment" to "meet international standards" in the field of human rights. However, in the final document approved on Friday the wording was changed, with Ankara having to protect "all refugees" according to "relevant" international standards and not deport them to dangerous countries of origin, German newspaper Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten (DWN) reported, referring to AFP.
What exactly the "relevant" standards are is a matter of interpretation. Human rights organizations fear that the new initiative could lead to waves of refugees' mass deportations.
Turkish authorities have been repeatedly accused of not fulfilling human rights and democracy standards. As was earlier mentioned by ECA report, even in the EU the respect for migrants' human rights often "remains theoretical and is only rarely translated into practice".
