Migrant arrivals on
the Greek islands are in decline.
The final
piece of legislation required for Syrian refugees to be sent back to Turkey
under Ankara’s refugee deal with the EU went into effect Thursday.
Turkish
president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed the amendment, which extends
the temporary protection of Syrian refugees, a Turkish official said. It was
also published in the
Turkish official gazette and comes into effect immediately.
Under the
agreement struck on March 18, all
migrants arriving in Greece after March 20 are sent back to Turkey and one
Syrian refugee is resettled for each Syrian returned, up to a ceiling of
72,000.
Last week,
Greece also passed legislation required for the arrangement to be implemented.
Following
the legislative changes, on Thursday morning officials from EASO, the EU asylum
agency, started conducting admissibility checks on Syrian refugees in Greece,
the first screening to see who can ask for asylum.
Last Monday,
Europe started deporting about 200 migrants from Greece to Turkey but Greek
authorities and the European Commission stressed that they were part of a group
that did not apply for asylum.
Meanwhile,
migrant arrivals on the Greek islands continue to decline.
“A decrease
in interceptions and/ or apprehensions was observed on the Aegean coasts of
Turkey,” UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, said Thursday. “New arrivals on
the Aegean islands dropped from 262 on Sunday to 70 during the 24 hours
preceding Thursday morning.”
The agency
said that “it remains unclear if the decline is directly related to the
EU-Turkey agreement.”
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