Aid activities suspended in Greek island migrant camps over Turkey-EU deal
Several refugees camps in Greece have been turned into detention facilities since the European Union (EU) and Turkey reached a deal to curb the migrant crisis last week.
The camps have been set up to hold thousands of migrants arriving on Greek islands, as they wait for the determination of their asylum status.
But now , refusing to be part of the EU-Turkey migrant deal which they describe as 鈥渋nhumane,鈥� Reuters reported.聽
Several agencies, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Doctors Without Borders, and The Norwegian Refugee Council have shut down their operations, despite an outcry from Greek authorities saying they won鈥檛 be able to handle the migrants without assistance from the organizations.
鈥淯NHCR is concerned that t,鈥� said Melissa Fleming, the agency鈥檚 spokeswoman, reported The Associated Press. 鈥淎t present, Greece does not have sufficient capacity on the islands for assessing asylum claims, nor the proper conditions to accommodate people decently and safely pending an examination of their cases.鈥�
"We will not allow our assistance to be instrumentalized for a mass expulsion operation and ," said Marie Elisabeth Ingres, who heads Greece鈥檚 mission for Doctors Without Borders (MSF), reported GlobalPost.
The EU-Turkey deal, reached Friday, has received widespread criticism, largely from international organizations who say that the deal won鈥檛 be able to protect vulnerable people fleeing persecution from their own countries. If implemented, the deal will see thousands of migrants 鈥� who don鈥檛 have asylum status 鈥� sent back to Turkey. In turn, Turkey will receive up to 鈧�6 billion in aid over the next two years. Additionally, the EU will resettle a Syrian refugee from Turkey for each Syrian refugee that Turkey takes back from Greece.
But most aid agencies and human rights groups are concerned that , Vox reported. This means that Turkey could send refugees back to conflict prone areas, an act which violates international law.
Amnesty International on Wednesday accused Turkey of forcibly returning 30 Afghan asylum seekers back to their country.
"The ink wasn鈥檛 even dry on the EU-Turkey deal when several dozen Afghans were forced back to a country where their lives could be in danger," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty's Europe and Central Asia director, in a press statement, according to Vox. 聽"This latest episode highlights the risks of returning asylum seekers to Turkey."
The EU plan is a 鈥�, asylum seekers, and migrants,鈥� said Kenneth Roth, executive director for Human Rights Watch expressing his concerns聽in a letter to the EU.
A very different approach is needed. There is a compassionate and rights-based response that would better enable EU member states to manage migration and address security concerns. 聽This should include: establishing sufficient safe and legal channels to protection, including large-scale resettlement for people found to be refugees, to reduce the incentive for people to take to boats; fair examination of asylum claims for those nonetheless still arriving irregularly in EU countries; equitable sharing of responsibility for asylum seekers and resettled refugees among EU states; vastly stepped-up support for the humanitarian needs, education and job opportunities of refugees in frontline states as pledged at the January London conference; and active engagement in addressing the root causes of violence and human rights abuses that force people from their homes.
