EU deal risks new wave of migrants, warns Ukip chief
‘Insane’ plan to hand visas to millions of Turks
BRITAIN faces the spectre of another wave of mass migration after Brussels bureaucrats opened t he gates of Europe to Turkey’s 75million citizens.
Plans to allow Turks access to EU visas – in exchange for their country’s help with the Syrian migration crisis – were branded as ‘bordering on insanity’ last night.
Ukip l eader Nigel Farage warned the deal – a possible precursor to Turkey becoming a full EU member – could result in even more pressure on UK schools and hospitals.
He added that Turkey was ‘ too big, too poor and too different from us culturally’ to be in the EU.
But Turkey’s hardline president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
‘Bordering on insanity’
demanded membership as the price for stemming the tide of refugees pouring over his country’s borders into Europe.
In exchange for the visa deal and £2.2billion in aid – which could include up to £260million from the UK – Mr Erdogan will step up border controls, tackle people- smuggling gangs and re-admit failed asylum seekers who had entered Europe from Turkey.
Late on Thursday night at a summit in Brussels, EU officials agreed to speed up talks on visas allowing Turks into the EU’s border-free Schengen Zone, which could come into effect as soon as next year.
This would not automatically allow access to the UK, but could still fuel black market immigration to Britain.
Yesterday, as Mr Erdogan held the continent to ransom over the migration crisis, with the demand of three billion euros (£2.2billion) in aid, EU officials announced they would ‘ r e - energise’ membership negotiations with Turkey.
But critics said any deal on visas, or moves toward handing the Turks EU citizenship, would only swap the prospect of two million Syrian refugees arriving from Turkey, with the threat of its 75million citizens getting the chance to pour in.
Turkey is far less well off than the EU, meaning that a mass of poor i mmigrants could be tempted to move west.
The country’s accession has been barred for years over its human rights record and security fears.
More than 95 per cent of Turkey’s territory is in Asia and its population is overwhelmingly Muslim, meaning the clash of cultures could lead to difficulties integrating with predominantly Christian Europe.
Extending the EU to Turkey would also mean the bloc shared borders with war-torn Syria as well as Iraq and Iran.
Mr Farage warned the proposal was ‘bordering on insanity’ and would give millions ‘access to come to Britain, to use the NHS, to use our pri- mary schools and to take jobs’. He added: ‘Turkey is a state with a terrible human rights record run by a dictatorial I slamist president. He is threatening to flood Europe with migrants unless we pay him three billion euros and accept Turkey into the EU.’
Turkey has the upper hand in negotiations, as the EU needs help in coping with the biggest mass migration since the Second World War.
The country hosts more than two million Syrian refugees, and since January 350,000 people have tried to enter the EU in Greece from Turkey – only 50,000 of whom were stopped by Turkish authorities.
At the summit, EU leaders i ncluding David Cameron endorsed an ‘ action plan’ for working with Turkey, including speeding up negotiations on visa rules and considering funding the huge aid package.
But Mr Erdogan still accused the EU of failing to do enough to share the migration burden, adding: ‘They keep saying, “We can’t do with out Turkey” … Then why don’t you let Turkey in the EU?’
The EU wants Mr Erdogan to co- operate on improving the lives of Syrian refugees in the hope it encourages them to stay put. They also want to co- ordinate border controls and get Turkey to clamp down on people smugglers.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who will travel to Ankara tomorrow, said Turkey’s aid demand had been discussed and seemed reasonable. French President Francois Hollande said Turkey would need to implement a deal to take back from Europe failed asylum seekers, as a condition of getting visas.
A Foreign Office spokesman said the action plan ‘will ease the refugee burden on Turkey whilst preventing f urther uncontrolled migration to the EU’, adding that the visa deal will not affect the UK.
TURKISH military jets shot down an unidentified drone in the country’s airspace near Syria yesterday. A US official claimed the drone was Russian, but Moscow strongly denied ownership.
Comment – Page 16
‘Terrible human rights record’