Refugee crisis drags
pean Commission spokesman. “The numbers are low and dropping.” But the deportations have been far harder to achieve. Some 8,230 people are waiting in camps on islands that normally teem with sun-seeking tourists.
So far 449 “irregular migrants” have been sent back to Turkey from Greece, including 18 Syrians. None were based on the most controversial part of the deal – Turkey’s admissibility as a safe country the deal, Greek authorities decide whether to deport an asylum-seeker to Turkey based on recommendations from the European Asylum Support Agency (EASO), which conducts interviews with applicants.
So far, however, every person issued a deportation notice has appealed. In almost every case that has been decided the appeals committee has overturned the initial decision, blocking the deportation order. “If the appeals committee considers that Turkey is not a safe country, it is not legally possible to transfer asylum seekers from Turkey to Greece,” says Yves Pascouau, director of migration and mobility policies at the European Policy Centre.
There are also staff shortages. EASO requested 400 interpreters from EU countries. As of May 31, according to official documents, EU member states had pledged to supply 131 interpreters and only 49 had been deployed.
“I don’t think there are enough experts on the island to process these claims,” said Ariel Ricker, director of legal NGO Advocates Abroad. Charities like hers have been forced to pick up the slack. She said even getting her staff past the camp gates is a struggle.
A key component of the deal was a bag of sweeteners for Turkey: €6billion in aid (wrangling continues over whether it is given to aid agencies, or if the Turkish authorities will be permitGibraltarians