March 09, 2016

EU-Turkey deal will only divert refugees towards more dangerous routes

located:	Turkey
editor:	Vanessa Ellingham

The EU-Turkey deal that will see refugees returned to Turkey if they land n Greece will not deter refugees from continuing to flee to Europe.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees reached Europe via Greece in the last year, but the deal made between Turkey and EU leaders this week aims to stem the flow through a process of formal resettlement: on Syrian will be settled in Europe for every Syrian that Greece sends back to Turkey.

But Syrians on the move say the "one-for-one" policy isn't much of a deterrent.

One 23 year old Syrian woman, currently in Turkey attempting to leave for Greece, told the Guardian "The trip is illegal anyway, so different rules are not going to deter us. We as Syrians are used to finding ways round rules now anyway.”

They key criticism of the new policy is that it will likely push refugees towards more dangerous routes, such as the Libya-Italy boat journey where thousands have drowned in recent years; a lesser-used route from Turkey to Italy; the land border with Bulgaria; and the maritime journey to Ukraine and the eastern Balkans via the Black Sea.

Experts have been warning Europe's leaders that open borders are the only way forward, not just for preventing tragedies but for future economic prosperity on the aging continent.

The Association for Solidarity with Syrian Refugees coordinator Mohamed Salih Ali was even more despondent about the deal.

“The Syrians have become a commodity traded and sold in the international bazaar but no one is thinking of solving the causes of the problem,” said Salih Ali. “Everyone is thinking about how to throw the problem on the other.”