Refugees International Field Report

By Izza Leghtas

SUMMARY

This report examines aspects of an agreement between the European Union (EU) and the Government of Turkey, laid out in an EU-Turkey statement of March 18, 2016, that was designed to reduce the number of asylum-seekers and migrants arriving in Europe by sea. In 2015, that number had reached more than one million people, of whom 80 percent travelled by sea from Turkey to Greeces Aegean islands. Under the arrangement, Turkey agreed to accept the return from Greece of migrants and asylum-seekers who arrived on the Greek islands from Turkey after March 2016. In general, the substantive claims to asylum by asylum-seekers who fall under this procedure are not to be examined by Greek authorities; rather the asylum-seekers go through an admissibility procedure that assesses whether Turkey can be considered a safe country to which they can be returned. This raises at least two concerns. First, Turkey maintains a geographic restriction to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, documents that provide critical protections for asylum-seekers, and is only prepared to recognize as refugees people fleeing persecution in Europe. Second, Turkey is already overwhelmed by over three million refugees, many of whom already face significant obstacles in accessing employment, housing, and education.

Though the EU-Turkey statement does not explicitly require it, Greece has put in place a containment policy on its Aegean islands. As a general matter, asylum-seekers and migrants arriving on these islands are not allowed to leave for the Greek mainland, and thousands of people are thus confined on these small islands. In July 2017, Refugees International witnessed appalling living conditions for many asylum-seekers in overcrowded and unsafe accommodations, and many are deprived of care and support that is only available on the mainland. And though EU leaders claim their goal is to break the business model of smugglers, the containment policy is actually pushing some people to travel off the islands by paying smugglers.

The containment policy has had some exemptions, including asylum-seekers with certain vulnerabilities (such as pregnant women or people with disabilities). Those individuals have been allowed to leave the islands for the mainland and have their asylum claims considered in substance. Exemptions from the containment policy have also been granted to those who might be eligible for unification with family members who are seeking or have been granted asylum in another EU country where the asylum claims of all family members would be processed. But the EU and Greek authorities have agreed on a joint action plan, issued in December 2016, that envisions limiting those exemptions. If this occurs, it will result in a worsening of the situation on the islands and will put more people at risk of being returned to Turkey.

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Like a prison Asylum-seekers confined to the Greek Islands - ReliefWeb