Taking back illegal immigrants making their way from Syria to various Greek Islands, Turkey began its new role as the European Union’s warehouse for Mideast refugees. Once making their way to Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Poland and other European countries, the new EU arrangement paid Turkey $6 billion euros to provide safe haven for refugees fleeing war-ravaged Syria. Turkey agreed with the EU March 18 to take back refugees crossing illegally across the Aegean into Greece, helping to solve the EU’s immigrant crisis, threatening to break the 1985 Schengen passport-free zone. Agreeing to more financial aid, visa-free travel and accelerating Turkey’s application to the EU, Brussels figured out what U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura couldn’t accomplish in Geneva trying to end the Syrian war. EU officials simply couldn’t wait for U.N. peace talks.
Settling its own financial crisis with EU Aug. 14, 2015, Greece couldn’t accommodate floods of Mideast refugees, threatening to sabotage the fragile economy, still burdened with debt and promises of more austerity. Slated to start returning April 4 more than 1 million refuges that crossed illegally from Syria across the Aegean Sea to Greek islands, the logistics haven’t been entirely worked out for transporting and warehousing Syrian refugees in Turkey. Operating on the European Commission’s report paving the way for relocating refugees to Turkey, many refugees seeking asylum in Northern Europe won’t be happy. U.N.’s special envoy on migration Maarten Verwey identified Turkey as a “safe third country” for Mideast refugees, now parking themselves in Greek islands. Faced with a revolt against refugees, the EU had no choice but cut a deal with Turkey.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Belgium Prime Minister Charles Michel have lost political clout accepting thousands of Syrian refugees. Other EU countries, like Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia, have banned Syrian refugees altogether. When Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS] hit Paris Nov. 13, 2015, killing 130, injuring hundreds and, more recently, March 22 attacks in Brussels killing 35, injuring over 200, finished the deal with Turkey to take Syrian refugees. “Our worries are that not just Dikili but the whole region’s infrastructure is not ready if they stay here—whether it’s health or education facilities. We have expressed these worries,” Dikili’s mayor, Mustafa Tosun told Reuters. Before waves of refugees start hitting in Dikili just north of the Mederranean port city of Ismir, Ankara better have their disaster management system in order.
Taking 6 billions euros from the EU, Turkey has responsibility to manage the endless streams of refugees expected next week. District governor Mustafa Nazmi said his region was prepared to set up a camp capable of handling 5,000 refugees. Turkey’s Red Crescent plans to set up a 5,000-person camp in Manisa east of Ismir. Turkey’s disaster relief agency AFAD already manages some 2.9 million Syrian refugees. Human rights groups, like Amnesty International, have praised Turkey for their humanitarian treatment of Mideast refugees. Kerem Kinik, vice president of the Turkish Red Crescent, said most refugees will not be housed in camps, at least in the beginning. “We will host the first returnees most probably in hotels, seaside holiday camps,” said Kinik Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to ingratiate himself to the EU after shooting down a Russian fighter jet Nov. 24, 2016.
Hoping to win early acceptance into the EU, Erdogan’s plan to take millions of Syrian refugees only works if Brussels foots the bill. Erdogan has no problem taking billions of euros from the EU to resettle Syrian refugees. No one knows for sure whether Turkey can accommodate the next flood of Syrian refugees. Spending over 10 billion euros to house some 2.9 million refugees, Turkey’s stretched to the breaking point but needs EU’s cash. “We can’t lock them down in accommodation centers. If they want, they can go to camps, or if they have relatives they might stay with them. But if they say ‘I can’t take care of myself’ . . . we can’t pressure them,” said Kinik. If de Mistura makes headway in Geneva April 9, it’s possible to end the Syrian war. Keeping the Feb. 27 U.S.-Russian-brokered ceasefire in place also stems the flow of refuges trying to escape a dangerous war zone.
Turkey’s new pact with the EU agrees to resettle all migrants and refugees crossing the Aegean Sea into Greece. EU officials still plan to let some unknown percentage of refugees settle into the EU. With EU countries, like Germany, France and Belgium, under pressure to stop the flow of refugees, it’s doubtful the EU will have too many more open doors. Unable to count on Geneva peace talks, the EU had to deal with Turkey to stem the flow of Syria refugees into Europe. “We don’t consider Turkey a safe country for refuges and asylum seekers. We have documented case of forced returns to Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Irem Arf, regional migration researchers for Europe at Amnesty International. Amnesty accuses of Turkey of already returning refuges back to Afghanistan. If Turkey’s relocation effort gets bogged down, more deportations to war-ravaged countries could continue.
