The refugee deal is facing “a very unsafe moment” as the two sides wrangle over Ankara’s fulfilment of its terms, a Turkish minister warned yesterday (11 May).
Advertisement
The number of migrants arriving in Italy exceeded the total arriving in Greece for the first time since June 2015.
He said if the European Union preferred to take the “terrorist organisation” as its interlocutor instead of Turkey, “there’s no problem from our perspective”.
Previous year in April, 13,556 migrants made their way to Greece, while 16,063 people made their way to Italy from Africa in the hope of seeking asylum in the EU. Hundreds of refugees and migrants continue to move everyday to government-built shelters and less than 1,500 people remain at Piraeus.
Although rights groups and the European Union say the laws are too often used to suppress dissent, Turkey argues that the laws are necessary to fight militant groups such as the “Islamic State” and Kurdish insurgents. And Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is getting fed up.
Germany has taken in most of the 1.3 million refugees and migrants who reached Europe across the Mediterranean in the past year, triggering bitter disputes among the 28 European Union member states on how to handle the influx.
The deal was offered in return for Turkey taking back migrants who crossed the Aegean Sea to Greece.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that the entire migrant deal could collapse if the Europeans renege on their pledges, but Bozkir declined to say that.
The left-wing deputies said on their May 2-4 visit to Turkey they had met people who complained of not being able to claim asylum in Europe, which would run counter to worldwide humanitarian law.
Frontex said there was no sign of migrants shifting from the route via Greece to the central Mediterranean route.
More migrants trying to make their way into Europe are arriving in Italy than Greece for the first time in a year, according to the latest United Nations figures.
German MEP Birgit Sippel, spokeswoman on migration for the centre-left Socialists and Democrats group, said if Turkish citizens want visa liberalisation “then it’s up to their government to act”.
The group said in a report released yesterday that three of those attacked had died and eight were injured.
A pregnant Somali woman was evacuated separately by helicopter to a hospital in Catania. He said April’s total was well below the daily figure arriving on the island of Lesbos alone during the peak months a year ago. About 16,000 migrants arrived in April, compared with 120,000 arrivals last December. Just 26 were Syrians.
It still requires approval from the upper house. This is the case for Turkish citizens as it is for citizens of any other country.
Advertisement
Germany registered almost 1.1 million people as asylum-seekers in 2015 and is keen to see far lower numbers this year.
