EUROPEAN UNION AND TURKEY REFUGEE CRISIS
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EUROPEAN UNION AND TURKEY REFUGEE CRISIS
Turkey holds a crucial part in the trend that is developed during the EU migrant crisis, and is used by huge number of migrants (for instance asylum seekers, refugees, or displaced persons) from other countries as a “transit state” for Europe nations in the context of major refugee influx. The major problem for Turkey is the influx of refugees from various nations, especially Syria and using the nation as a gateway to Europe. Turkey does not set up classic refugee camps, before 2018 as the migrants were handled by the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency with its refugee boundaries. Turkey has a different stance relative to international law on refugees, which they referred to as a “morality-oriented stance” rather than a security-centred approach to Refugees. However, Turkey is facing challenges due to high expenditure on refugee services (housing, work, healthcare and education), especially medical expenses, with limited funding from other nations. Highlighting the harmful forces generated by accepting migrants, particularly their link with militants, has raised internal challenges as well.
Migration is a component of Turkey’s accession to the European Union. In order to work on the issue, Ankara and Brussels signed a deal in the year 2016 intended to lessen the number of refugees moving through Turkey to Europe (Poon, J., 2016). The Collaborative Action Plan EU-Turkey gives priority to border protection and establishes strategies for holding refugees within Turkey [preventing migration to EU member states] with the necessary funding. It was agreed that The EU will expedite the repayment of the originally allocated € 6 billion for the Refugees Facilities in the nation. After maximum use of these services, the EU will raise new support for the migrant amenities by the end of year 2018 (Seeberg, 2016). Also, Turkey decided to take all necessary precautions to prevent opening up illegal migration of new land or sea routes from Turkey into the EU. Turkey was also charged with stopping human smugglers from sending refugees through the Aegean Sea and locking its land borders to refugees from Greece and Bulgaria. The EU has agreed to speed up discussions on Turkey’s EU accession, the extension to the customs union, and visa-free travel to the EU states for Turkish citizens.
Turkey has sparked a fresh migration crisis after saying it could not stop four million immigrants from moving to Europe from its territory (Harris. 2020). Also, it cannot abide by the 2016 agreement if the EU does not provide sufficient funds for keeping the refugees within its territory. Turkey also claims that it does not receive the complete funds; however, the EU has mobilized the funds to refugee’s aid organizations. On the other hand, EU is apprehensive if Turkey opens its borders for more Syrian refugees to enter into the EU states which can add to the existing refugee crisis (Rygiel, Baban, and Ilcan, 2016). However, as per the agreement Turkey needs to take back the refugees instead of mobilizing them to Greece. Most EU Member nations have already been hesitant to recognize appropriate numbers of those Syrian refugees in Turkey. Nevertheless, given the flaws in the execution of the agreement, the European Commission continues to perceive Ankara as the only thing that prevents a large influx of refugees from flooding the Balkan Road, as they did in 2015 (Weber, 2017).
Since the local and international bodies have declared corona as a global pandemic, the refugee crisis has further worsened. Turkey has discontinued all the flights to/from Europe. All the schools, institutions, shops, pubs, restaurants, sports facilities et cetera are ordered to be closed from 17th March. Even the Friday prayers or any other prayer in general are also banned nationwide (“COVID-19 pandemic: How is Turkey dealing with the corona crisis? – Qantara.de”, 2020). Moreover, followed by an airstrike that killed more than thirty soldiers, Turkey immediately terminated the agreement preventing refugees from entering into Europe. EU leaders have strongly criticized this move. However, it has very less or nothing to do with people who have already entered in the EU.
Furthermore, precautions to reduce the spread of COVID-19 including frequent hand wash, social distancing, self-isolation and healthy eating are often not possible for the 6.6 million refugees displaced in the Turkey and over 5.6 million Syrian refugees taking asylum in the EU. With this, over 900,000 people, who fled from Syria and staying in tents near the Turkish border since December 2019. Moreover, there are around half a million children in this group (“Coronavirus is exacerbating the precarious situation of Syrian refugees and IDPs – Atlantic Council”, 2020). Hence, among all the groups, these are the most at risk population. Another major issue is the targeted accusation and attacks on these refugees spreading the corona virus at community level. This has caused the beginning of discrimination, hate and violence against these people. Though, Turkey is trying his level best to facilitate the same healthcare facilities to these refugees that are available to any ordinary Turkish citizen.
I believe that the best solution in this crisis is that EU should continue with the funding as keeping the refugees in Turkey is less expensive as compared other nations, for instance, France costs at least €1,500 on a monthly basis. I strongly assert that a more collaborative approach is needed to resolve the challenges of funding for sustaining refugees and preventing them from moving into EU nations.
References
Coronavirus is exacerbating the precarious situation of Syrian refugees and IDPs – Atlantic Council. (2020). Retrieved 16 April 2020, from https://atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/coronavirus-is-exacerbating-the-precarious-situation-of-syrian-refugees-and-idps/
COVID-19 pandemic: How is Turkey dealing with the corona crisis? – Qantara.de. (2020). Retrieved 16 April 2020, from https://en.qantara.de/content/covid-19-pandemic-how-is-turkey-dealing-with-the-corona-crisis
Harris. C., 2020. Europe’s migrant crisis: Why Turkey let refugees head for EU and the link with Syria. Available at https://www.euronews.com/2020/03/03/europe-s-migrant-crisis-why-turkey-let-refugees-head-for-eu-and-the-link-with-syria [Accessed on 27th March 2020]
Poon, J., 2016. EU-Turkey Deal: Violation of, or consistency with, international law?. European Papers, 1(3), pp.1195-1203.
Rygiel, K., Baban, F. and Ilcan, S., 2016. The Syrian refugee crisis: The EU-Turkey ‘deal’ and temporary protection. Global Social Policy, 16(3), pp.31
Seeberg, P., 2016. The EU-Turkey March 2016 Agreement As a Model: New Refugee Regimes and Practices in the Arab Mediterranean and the Case of Libya. Global Turkey in Europe, 16. Available at http://www.iai.it/sites/default/files/gte_wp_16.pdf [Accessed on 27th March 2020]
Weber, B., 2017. The EU-Turkey Refugee Deal and the Not Quite Closed Balkan Route. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, pp.1-25.
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