But one academic says it is a sign of a more determined effort by Turkey to get a handle on the country’s massive refugee population.
Advertisement
In addition, Poland will accommodate some 2,000 refugees that Warsaw had committed to take in July.
The last of several hundred migrants who had been camped out for days in the Turkish border city of Edirne, in the hope of being allowed into Greece, left the area Thursday after European Union leaders resolved to tighten the bloc’s borders. Many of them have been separated from their families.
They are accused of encouraging groups of refugees to set off on foot for Edirne. Many are asylum seekers, but they have to wait, often for years, while a backlogged United Nations refugee agency tries to resettle them in other countries.
Three bus company managers at the station confirmed that they had been instructed to refuse tickets to Syrians.
“When the first group entered to Turkey or other countries from Syria, everybody knew that they were there for years, and nobody took action, including Europe“. But even though the Turks have spent some $7.6 billion feeding and housing the influx, many struggle to make ends meet.
So far the moves appear ad hoc and limited.
Hence, something of a modern paradox: Turkey’s humanitarian generosity is beyond reproach – migrant advocates say it puts many wealthier countries to shame.
Advertisement
The suspects – identified as German national Nora S., French national Charlotte L. and Syrians Abdalsalam S., Ali F., and Mohammed F. – were said to have incited refugees against Turkish police and persuaded them against cooperating with the authorities. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to be named. “Now, they apply the law”.
