Turkey will only start readmitting refugees from Greece once those who are already in EU territory are resettled among European countries, Volkan told state-run Anadolu Agency on March 10.
- He also stressed that EU countries would not be allowed to “cherry pick” during the resettlement process by preferring engineers or doctors over less qualified applicants, because the U.N. Refugee Agency will be overseeing the process.
Bozkır said Ankara would meet all its obligations under the deal by May 1 and called on all opposition parties to support this “historic” step.
“We believe this to be a historic step, a gift to our nation. We will make this happen with or without the opposition’s support,” he added.
On March 7, Turkey proposed a deal that would see the EU resettle one Syrian refugee from camps in Turkey in exchange for every Syrian that Turkey takes from Greece, in a bid to reduce the incentive for people to board boats for Europe.
In return, Turkey wants financial aid, visa-free access to Europe’s passport-free Schengen zone and a speeding up of Ankara’s efforts to join the EU.
EU leaders hope to finalize the deal at a summit on March 17-18.
[hurriyetdailynews.com]
10/3/16
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Turkey EU minister: Migrants readmitted only after EU deal goes into effect -Anadolu...
ReplyDeleteA deal between Turkey and the European Union to readmit migrants does not apply to refugees already on Greek islands but to those who arrive once the agreement is in effect, Anadolu Agency quoted EU Affairs Minister Volkan Bozkir as saying on Thursday.
The number of migrants Turkey will take back will be in the thousands or tens of thousands, not in the millions, Bozkir also told state-run Anadolu, according to its Twitter account.
REUTERS