Reported Illegal Return of Syrians to Turkey Under EU Deal Branded 'Deplorable'

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and refugee rights groups have has said the reported return of refugees from Greece under the EU-Turkey migrant deal are illegal as many are unable to access a lawyer when their asylum request is considered, marking another new humanitarian low for the deal.

Greece has returned ten Syrian refugees to Turkey, reportedly without considering their asylum claims, in what Amnesty International has said is "an irresponsible move that shows a callous disregard for their safety."

In Greece last week, our director @iverna1 spoke about the awful situation facing #Refugeesgr & what the #EU & #Greece must do to tackle it. https://t.co/HY2fkB3vhE

— Amnesty EU (@AmnestyEU) October 27, 2016

​According to information received by Amnesty International, the group included six adults including two parents who were traveling with their four children aged between one and six. The UNHCR said their claims to asylum were not considered, which would make the returns illegal.

"If these refugees were sent to Turkey without due consideration of their asylum claim, this is undoubtedly a case of refoulement [the forcible return of refugees or asylum seekers to a country where they are liable to be subjected to persecution.] This is a deplorable breach of Greece's international obligations which has shown callous disregard for the group's safety," said Giorgos Kosmopoulos, Amnesty International's researcher on migrant rights in Europe.

"Heads of state meeting in Brussels are clearly putting Greece under enormous pressure to speed up returns to Turkey, but legal obligations to allow refugees and asylum-seekers to have their asylum claims fully and individually considered cannot be ignored."

Lawyer Refused Access

According to the UNHCR, a group of 91 people arrived on the island of Milos on October 14 and was subsequently transferred to a Reception and Identification Center on the island of Leros, where they formally expressed to the responsible authorities their intention to seek asylum in Greece.

Greece:Returning 10 #refugees to Turkey without considering their asylum claims is illegal + dangerous #EUTurkeydeal https://t.co/tyXurYks3a pic.twitter.com/wEv8YVAWmP

— Amnesty EU (@AmnestyEU) October 21, 2016

​Among the group were 10 Syrian nationals, who were transferred to Kos and subsequently readmitted by plane to Adana, Turkey, without due consideration of their asylum claims and without the appropriate procedural guarantees. 

UNHCR has sought clarification with the Greek authorities about the incident.

A lawyer in the island of Leros told Amnesty International that he was refused access to the group.

On October 19, he went to the Agia Marina police station and requested information about the reasons for, and the aim of, the detention and requested to see the group detained there. Police told him they had oral orders to transfer the group to the island of Kos and refused him access and information.

Syrian girl swinging in front of her #refugee home in #Greece. She is 10 but hasn't spent one day in school. Ever. pic.twitter.com/jjV3JzOokW

— Emina Ćerimović (@EminaHRW) October 21, 2016

​The news comes weeks after asylum judges on the Greek island Lesbos threw the EU-Turkey migrant deal into disarray after refusing to allow a Syrian to be relocated back to Turkey because they said it was not a "safe third country" — which critics of the deal have always said.

Many relief agencies — including Medecins Sans Frontieres, the International Rescue Committee, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children and Red Cross — have joined the UNHCR in saying the EU-Turkey deal is either immoral or illegal as the "hotspots" have become detention centers. They also say Turkey is not a "safe country" for migrants to be returned to, under the Geneva Convention.