‘Reckless & illegal’: Amnesty calls on EU to halt refugee deal with Turkey

The plans by Brussels to return irregular asylum seekers from Greece to Turkey violate EU and international law, as Turkey is incapable of providing refugees with adequate protection, Amnesty International has said.

In a 36-page summary, the international rights organization described the mistreatment of refugees in Turkey, saying they are not safe in the country, Sputnik reported. 

Turkey, Amnesty said, is simply incapable of providing an adequate level of protection.

“The EU-Turkey deal is reckless and illegal. Amnesty International’s findings expose as a fiction the idea that Turkey is able to respect the rights and meet the needs of over 3 million asylum seekers and refugees,” said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s director for Europe and Central Asia.

“In its relentless efforts to prevent irregular arrivals to Europe, the EU has willfully misrepresented what is actually happening on the ground in Turkey,” he added. 

“It is to be expected that a new asylum system, in a country hosting the largest number of refugees in the world, would struggle. While there is value in supporting and encouraging Turkey to develop a fully functioning asylum system, the EU cannot act as if it already exists.”

Over 3 million refugees are currently staying in Turkey, most of them from neighboring Syria, but thousands have also arrived from countries such as Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. In addition to the threat of forced repatriation to those countries, where asylum seekers would not be safe, the refugees also have to cope with harsh living conditions in Turkey itself, the report said.

The country is slow to process asylum applications, forcing millions to stay in legal limbo. Turkish authorities refused Amnesty’s request to provide exact statistics, but in April they reported having processed around 4,000 applications.

Migrants still waiting for their paperwork to cut through red tape are denied full refugee status and integration. They can neither build a new life in Turkey nor hope to legally resettle in another country. 

The majority of them have to provide for themselves with little to no aid from the Turkish government.

Source: MENA