Under the deal, only migrants who do not qualify for that protection can be deported to Turkey.
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At Idomeni camp on Tuesday, children led a peaceful protest holding white flowers and a banner reading “We are killed silently” reported Greek press agency ANA-MPA. Those who apply for asylum will undergo “admissibility assessments” – interviews conducted by the Greek authorities and supported by the EASO.
Rights groups and some European politicians have challenged the legality of the deal, questioning whether Turkey has sufficient safeguards in place to defend refugees’ rights and whether it can be considered safe for them.
The Greek Orthodox Church meanwhile says it has accepted a suggestion from Pope Francis that he visit Greece to highlight the plight of the thousands of refugees fleeing conflict.
More than 220 reached the Greek islands on Monday alone, according to the UN.
It said the visit of the leaders of the Catholic and Orthodox churches would send a “very strong signal” about the need to help refugees and protect Christians “who are cruelly suffering” in the Middle East.
A day after Greece deported hundreds of migrants to Turkey under an European Union deal meant to discourage others from making the same perilous journey to Europe, anger was simmering on Greek islands and asylum applications were piling up.
(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris). A Greek coast guard and police officer secure the area as migrants are being loaded on a ferry at the port of Mytilini in the Greek island of Lesbos, Monday, April 4, 2016, during the first day of the implementation of… A plan to send back migrants from Greece to Turkey sparked demonstratio…
The 13 migrants who arrived on the island of Chios after March 20 had not been allowed to register their asylum claims due to administrative problems before they were deported Monday.
Human rights organizations and many humanitarian associations have raised serious questions as whether Europe is fully respecting worldwide humanitarian standards by such draconian action, particularly since it is not clear what will happen to these unfortunate people when they arrive back in Turkey.
The deal and its accompanied closing of land borders to migrants have also led to more than 52,000 people being stranded in Greece.
The procedure has been slowed “by an increase in asylum requests” in the last few days by migrants on Chios and Lesbos, the Greek Aegean islands in the front line of the migratory wave, said Greek official Yiorgos Kyritsis.
The decision taken by the European Union has left many refugees feeling frustrated regarding their future, especially as many will be returning to life-threatening situations in their own countries.
More than 2,000 people, several of them Syrians, are now being held at the facility after leaving their homes to escape war.
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Under the deal with the EU, Turkey is supposed take back all migrants and refugees who enter Greece illegally, including Syrians.
