The EU announced on March 18 that it had reached an agreement with the government in Ankara for "irregular migrants" — those who did not meet asylum criteria — arriving in Greece would be returned to Turkey and swapped on a one-for-one basis with Syrian refugees who would be admitted into EU member states.
Though many #refugees enter #EU via #Greece, relatively few apply for #asylum there: https://t.co/Zg0xNe3bTi @ecre pic.twitter.com/Rk9CYUFd4B
— MigrationPolicy Inst (@MigrationPolicy) March 27, 2016
The one-for-one swap system was brought in on March 20, with all new arrivals coming under the terms of that deal. However, those who arrived before that date are being held in the hotspots, which the UNHCR says amounts to "mandatory detention."
"Under the new provisions, these sites have now become detention facilities. Accordingly, and in line with our policy on opposing mandatory detention, we have suspended some of our activities at all closed centers on the islands. This includes provision of transport to and from these sites," UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming told reporters.
Médecins Sans Frontières, the International Rescue Committee, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Save the Children have joined the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, in pulling out of the controversial EU-Turkey migrant deal.
We reiterate our position: in follow-up to EU/Turkey agreement, refugee protection safeguards must be very concrete https://t.co/tQA5v9H2ZX
— Filippo Grandi (@RefugeesChief) 19 March 2016
#EUTurkeyDeal will mean more indignity, disorder, illegal journeys & lives lost. Statement: https://t.co/YTj6Kuna8S pic.twitter.com/4xqkhnC8AZ
— IRC Intl Rescue Comm (@theIRC) March 22, 2016
Deal 'Undermines Europe's Human-Rights Commitments'
Elizabeth Collett, Director of the Brussels-based Migration Policy Institute Europe and Senior Adviser to the Migration Policy Institute's Transatlantic Council on Migration said:
"To achieve its self-imposed goal-a significant reduction in arrivals and an increase in returns to Turkey-policymakers will have to drastically cut legal corners, potentially violating EU law on issues such as detention and the right to appeal. Undermining Europe's human-rights commitments in such a visible way may prove even more costly in the long-term than the current chaos in Greece."
Marie Elisabeth Ingres, Médecins Sans Frontières Head of Mission in Greece said:
"We will not allow our assistance to be instrumentalized for a mass expulsion operation and we refuse to be part of a system that has no regard for the humanitarian or protection needs of asylum seekers and migrants."
"Asylum applications, interviews, and assessments could take weeks, or even months, and the result is that asylum-seekers are, and will, be placed in unlawful detention, contrary to International and European Human Rights Law," said Kirsty McNeill, Director of Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns for Save the Children.
