This article is written by Aashish Yadav, a student of Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi and Karandeep Singh, a student of University School of Law and Legal Studies.

One in, one out

That is the objective of the EU-Turkey refugee deal which came into effect on 20^th March 2016. The deal is applicable only to Syrian refugees. Since then, the official asylum channels to Europe for non-Syrians have been entirely cut off. As a result, tensions have been running high in the refugee camps in Greece as migrants are unsure about their future. There have been multiple reports of scuffles breaking out between Syrians and non-Syrians.

As per the deal, irrespective of nationality or urgency, all the asylum seekers landing on the European shores coming from Turkey are now being sent back to Turkey. The collective deportation of several hundred people every day is being carried out by Frontex, Europe’s border police, with Turkish assistance.

Debt-ridden Greece has been facing the highest influx of refugees trying to enter into Europe through the Aegean Sea route. Despite lacking both money and manpower, the major responsibility of implementing this deal has been thrust upon the Greeks. The EU has failed on its promise to send urgent aid to the Greek asylum authorities. Recently, the most senior Greek asylum official, Maria Stavropoulou, said that she would need a 20-fold increase in personnel to handle expected claims. The EU has promised to send 2,300 experts to Greece but only about 200 have arrived as of 10th April.

In theory, the people who will be deported under the deal will be the ones who will not get asylum in Greece as they are seeking asylum elsewhere or those, whose claims will be rejected anyway. However, human rights watchdogs and independent news sources have reported that everyone is being deported. This includes refugees who have been coming in every day in addition to the refugees who have not yet been granted asylum in Greece. Further, there are reports of deportation of refugees whose appeal hearings are still pending.

In the return of this deal, Turkey has been given monetary and political incentives – the EU has promised Turkey an aid package of over €6 billion and visa liberalisation for Turkish citizens. To carry out this deal, the EU has come up with the legal fiction of declaring Turkey a “safe third country.” According to news reports, Turkey has been sending refugees back to their home countries, which is in direct contravention of the policy of non-refoulement[1] – a legal principle stating that a refugee cannot be returned back to a place deemed unsafe for that particular refugee. Had the home country been safe, they would not have left from there.

According to a UNHCR report on 11^th April 2016, of the approximate 10 million total refugees stranded in Turkey, 2.7 million are Syrians. Concerns have been raised regarding the Turkish capabilities to handle this crisis. Given the Turkish government’s dismal track record regarding human rights, it will have a hard time convincing the sceptics of its sincerity. Even after the EU aid is taken into consideration, which Turkey has termed “insufficient”, the refugee crisis still calls for major commitments from across the globe.

Declaring the EU-Turkey deal illegal, UNHCR has pulled their support from the major “detention centers” in Greece from where the refugees are being sent to Turkey. UNHCR has reasoned that expelling refugees collectively without hearing their individual applications is in direct contravention of established international law (Article 19, Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union)[2]. Further, according to the Geneva Convention^[3] of 1951, it is completely illegal for a country to discriminate between refugees on the basis of race, religion or the country of origin.

The EU is now poised to deliver on its supposedly “generous” promise of granting asylum to one Syrian refugee every time they send one back from its shores. The endless waiting line- now rumoured to be 72000 strong, and the unacceptable living conditions of the camps reflects an EU policy that promotes a concern for welfare but is ultimately ineffectual. For the vanishing hopes of the empty handed – this deal represents nothing but another form of displacement backed by coercive border control, detention and illegal deportation measure. This denial of justice demonstrates a certain indifference of the EU, which till now has considered itself at the helm of international affairs.

A justice which is not just delayed but one that is too little and too late.

(Images are for representation purposes only)

Sources:

1. The 1951 Refugee Convention- http://www.unhcr.org/3b66c2aa10.html
2. Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union- http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:12012P/TXT&from=EN
3. EU-Turkey statement, 18 March 2016- http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/03/18-eu-turkey-statement/
4. Factsheet on the EU-Turkey Agreement (Brussels, 19 March 2016)- http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-16-963_en.htm
5. Syria Regional Refugee Response: Inter-agency Information Sharing Portal- http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=224
6. UNHCR redefines role in Greece as EU-Turkey deal comes into effect- http://www.unhcr.org/56f10d049.html
7. UNHCR on EU-Turkey deal: Asylum safeguards must prevail in implementation- http://www.unhcr.org/56ec533e9.html
8. UNHCR expresses concern over EU-Turkey plan- http://www.unhcr.org/56dee1546.html
9. EU-Turkey refugee plan could be illegal, says UN official- http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/02/eu-turkey-refugee-plan-could-be-illegal-says-un-official

[1] Article 33, Geneva Convention ’51 – Prohibition of expulsion or return (refoulement)

No Contracting State shall expel or return (refouler) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.

[2] Article 19, Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union- Protection in the event of removal, expulsion or extradition : Collective expulsions are prohibited.

[3] Article 3, Geneva Convention ’51 – Non-discrimination : The Contracting States shall apply the provisions of this Convention to refugees without discrimination as to race, religion or country of origin.