Turkey refuses to open border as 70,000 flee war-torn Syria
THE international refugee crisis intensified last night as around 70,000 Syrian refugees streamed towards Turkey after fleeing a Russian-backed regime assault on Aleppo.
As refugee families waited on the Turkish side of the border to receive their loved ones, Ankara defied pressure from Europe to open its border for the refugees, instead setting up camps on the Syrian side.
The decision caused distressing scenes witnessed by The Sunday Tele
graph as refugees clamoured for their relations to be allowed to cross to safety as freezing rain fell.
“Many people have left Aleppo. But still there are many civilians there,” said a father waiting with his four children at the border. “If Russia is successful, we are all dead.”
At an emergency meeting of Turkish and EU officials in Amsterdam, Jean Asselborn, the Luxembourg foreign minister, warned of the “very real prospect that there will be another huge influx of refugees” into Europe.
The threat of a renewed influx comes as European leaders continue to pressure Turkey to do more to stem the tide of refugees into Greece by implementing a deal that offers Turkey €3billion (£2.3billion) in cash and a more relaxed visa regime in exchange for holding more refugees.
Turkey already hosts more than two million people who have fled the war in Syria. Suleyman Tapsiz, the governor of the Kilis border province, said: “Our doors are not closed, but at the moment there is no need to host such people inside our border.”
Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said foreign ministers had reminded Ankara of its international obligations towards refugees and of the assistance Brussels was providing to help cope with the problem.
“[They must] remember the fact that there is first a moral if not a legal duty ... to protect those in need of international protection,” Ms Mogherini said last night.
UP to 70,000 Syrians were heading for Turkey last night threatening to send a new wave of migrants into Europe as the country’s civil war intensified.
The latest exodus came as Syrian regime forces advanced on the strategically vital opposition stronghold of Aleppo, closing in on a major victory with the help of sustained Russian air strikes on rebel positions.
With an estimated 35,000 new refugees already gathering at Syria’s Bab al-Salam crossing with Turkey, European foreign ministers and officials held emergency talks in Amsterdam with their Turkish counterparts to draw up a plan to deal with the crisis.
Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg’s foreign minister, warned of the “very real prospect that there will be another huge influx of refugees”, precipitated by what he called “indiscriminate” Russian bombing around Aleppo.
However last night Turkey had resisted EU pressure to open the bordercrossing for the refugees. The Bab al-Salam crossing has remained open until now and has proved to be a key entry point for foreign fighters flocking to join the war.
Suleyman Tapsiz, the governor of the Kilis border province, said a wave of at least 70,000 refugee was “a possibility” as the noose tightened around Aleppo, where an estimated 350,000 rebels and civilians are trapped.
New arrivals are currently being accommodated “in eight camps on the Syrian side of the border,” Mr Tapsiz said, adding that in Turkey’s view there was “no need for now” to transfer them to Turkey which has already absorbed more than two million.
“Our doors are not closed, but at the moment there is no need to host such people inside our borders,” he said.
Johannes Hahn, a European commissioner, yesterday warned Turkey that it needed to cut dramatically the number of migrants reaching Greece within weeks or the pressure for more border closures and fences will grow.
Frustrated that refugees continue to stream into Greece despite a £2.3billion deal between Ankara and Brussels to slow down the flows, Mr Hahn said Turkey must show results by the time EU leaders meet later this month.