Migrants to be deported from Greece to Turkey

Athens, Greece — An agreement between the European Union and Turkey to deport migrants currently on Greek islands back to the Turkish mainland is to take effect Monday morning, but the operation is threatened by a shortage of personnel.

Frontex, the EU’s border management agency, is responsible for the implementation of the deal but has less than one-tenth of the 2,300 officers that it needs to do the job. The agency relies on the EU’s 28 member states to provide translators and other officials to process asylum seekers, but these have not been forthcoming, even as the continent faces its worst refugee crisis since World War II.

The EU-Turkey deal aims to control the mass influx of people into Europe, many of whom have crossed the dangerous Aegean Sea with the help of smugglers. Under the deal, migrants arriving illegally in Greece will be returned to Turkey if they do not apply for asylum or if they make an asylum claim that is rejected.

For every person sent back, EU countries would take in one person confirmed to have made a legitimate asylum request.

The looming implementation of the deal and the closure of European borders have slowed the flow of people into Greece but not stopped it altogether. In the 24 hours leading to 7:30 a.m. Sunday, 514 arrived, according to authorities. There are now more than 6,100 migrants in the Aegean islands, more than half in Lesbos.