December 18, 2015

Turkey and its dirty work for Europe

located:	Turkey
editor:	Ama Lorenz

The last European Union (EU) summit of the year has been dominated by sharp conflicts. As European governments like Poland or Hungary move rapidly to the right, unbridgeable conflicting interests are threatening to tear the EU apart. Especially, when it comes to a common refugee policy. A „Yes, we will make it“ from the German chancellor Angela Merkel contra borders, that have been re-established within the Schengen zone to repel refugees and force them into neighbouring states. Of the 160,000 refugees in Greece and Italy whom the EU agreed in September to distribute among its members, only 208 have begun their journey thus far. Hungary and Slovakia have filed complaints against the agreement at the European Court of Justice.

Instead of finding a pan-European solution, Turkey, a very controversial country in many ways - as the policy against the Kurds, its role in Syria and the anti-democratic measures in the country itself show - is being paid $3 billion Euros to act as a border guard. An agreement related to this was reached at a meeting on November 29. Unbelievable, what these $3 billion Euros could have done, sent to the refugee camps in Northern Africa, instead of being used for the brutal methods by the Turkish authorities how it was revealed in a report by Amnesty International on Wednesday entitled “Europe’s Gatekeeper”. The organisation emphasizes that refugees are sent back to Iraq and Syria where they are threatened with persecution, torture and death. They were held for two months in EU-funded camps, cut off from all contact with their surroundings until they “voluntarily” signed a statement agreeing to be sent back.

The report says in its conclusion: “Irrefutable evidence shows that the Turkish authorities are detaining some of the most vulnerable people in their jurisdiction, including children, in a manner more akin to kidnapping than a lawful detention regime. Forcibly returning refugees back to Syria and Iraq is as unconscionable as it is unlawful under international and domestic Turkish law.

The fact that these detentions and returns took place in the context of negotiations and the signing of the EU-Turkey deal to combat irregular crossings is chilling. What the future will hold, given that the migration deal is now in force, is unclear. What is clear is that the EU and Turkey have a joint responsibility to ensure that any migration deal is implemented in a way that puts an end to these illegal practices and fully respects the rights of refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants in Turkey.”

According to the UN, due to the measures by the Turkish government, the number of refugees fleeing across the Aegean Sea to Greece has dropped from 7,000 a day in September and October to 2,000 a day this week. But is that a number the European community of states should really be proud of?

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres thinks that the global refugee crisis can be solved, with different means — and he offers compelling, surprising reasons why we must try – as a global action and by all European countries. (see video)

Read more about Europe and refugees in our Dossier ESCAPE.