UNHCR Worried for Refugees' Rights in EU-Turkey Migrant Deal

UNHCR has repeatedly called for effective, coordinated, and collective action by European leaders to find properly managed solutions to the refugee situation in Europe and beyond, and has provided specific recommendations to the European Union to this end, according to UNHCR spokesman William Spindler.

GENEVA (Sputnik) — The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is concerned that the recently-struck deal regarding refugees between the European Union and Turkey can be hastily implemented with no due respect to the migrants’ rights, UNHCR spokesman William Spindler told Sputnik.

Last week, Turkey and the European Union struck a deal that allows returning undocumented migrants who arrive in Greece back to Turkey, and in return obliges the bloc to take an equal number of Syrians currently staying in refugee camps in Turkey.

"In our view, any measures to stem arrivals must have the protection of individuals at their core, and be guided and framed by international and regional obligations, and in the spirit of solidarity and responsibddility sharing. Crucially though, we now need to see how this will be worked out in practice, in keeping with the safeguards set out in the Agreement," Spindler said.

UNHCR has repeatedly called for effective, coordinated, and collective action by European leaders to find properly managed solutions to the refugee situation in Europe and beyond, and has provided specific recommendations to the European Union to this end, the spokesman said.

Since January 2015, an estimated million refugees have entered Greece from Turkey, most hoping to travel north to seek asylum in Central Europe. A growing number of European countries have been closing their borders, worried by the inflow of migrants to their territory. Various rights groups have slammed the conditions under which the refugees have been treated in Europe, including the closure of borders and the state of migrant camps and refugee reception centers.