The first group of 202 migrants to be returned, a lot of them from Pakistan and Afghanistan, were sent back to Turkey on Monday.
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The deported migrants arriving in Dikili underwent health checks and registration before they are due to be sent by bus to Kirklareli on the Bulgarian border, from where they are expected to be deported back to their home country.
Greece on Friday resumed deportations of migrants to Turkey after a four-day pause, despite attempts by activists to stop the two boats from leaving Lesbos with 124 people onboard. After the ship docked in the small Turkish town of Dikili, officials, some wearing surgical masks, escorted each migrant onto the docks, where they were processed individually before being sent onto waiting busses. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country took in 1.1 million asylum seekers a year ago, delivered a message of optimism Thursday regarding the migrant crisis.
Under the deal with the EU, Turkey is supposed to take back all migrants and refugees who enter Greece illegally, including Syrians.
The EU-Turkey deal, which aims to deter illegal migration, has faced several setbacks and sharp criticism in its first week of implementation and has left many would-be migrants in limbo along the coast of Turkey. Many people, my friends he says, if we go back Turkey he will (commit) suicide.
She said that “each migrant will receive an individual examination” and that “we are in a critical dialogue” with nongovernmental organizations.
So far this year, IOM Turkey has facilitated the resettlement of over 1,000 refugees to Europe and over 3,800 to other countries worldwide.
The 45 migrants, who a police source said were all Pakistani nationals, departed from the island of Lesbos on the Turkish ferry Lesvos. Until recently, Alkhalaf, as a Syrian, had counted himself lucky, but it was beginning to dawn on him that even Syrians would face deportation to holding camps in Turkey before getting a chance at resettlement in Europe. “The fear and desperation are palpable”. But in early March, Macedonia, Croatia, and Slovenia closed their borders, creating a bottleneck on the migrant route and backlogs in Greece.
Overwhelmed Greek authorities say they have nowhere near enough staff to implement the European Union deal, and officials have already made critical mistakes in processing the deportees.
Four women and a child have died after their boat capsized off the coast of the Greek island of Samos.
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Amnesty International said migrants were being held “arbitrarily in appalling conditions” at camps on Chios and Lesbos, after interviewing dozens of detainees there.
