Reuters reports that not a single refugee has been sent back from Greece to Turkey despite the fact that the EU-Turkey agreement was sealed seven months ago. The deal, agreed in March, was expected to turn back the waves of Syrians fleeing to the west. Instead, the Syrians remain in Greece at overcrowded camps with the situation getting more violent day by day.
Though Turkey was declared “a safe third country” and had agreed to take back the refugees in return for EU concessions, the agreement has not been in force. This is straining Greek resources bearing in mind that Turkey’s ineffectiveness in keeping its end of the bargain has been coupled by the decision by Balkan countries along the land route to close their borders. This means that refugees are trapped in Greece, prevented from going forward or moving back.
On a more positive note, Reuters reports that the tide of refugees attempting the perilous crossing has been stemmed as only 17,000 people, 50 percent of these Syrians, have arrived via the Aegean whereas hundreds of thousands passed the year before.
Brussels, however, wants refugees to be sent back. As long as refugees remain stranded in Greece there is a chance that more would come. Returns would be a deterrent for those considering using Greece as a gateway. As it is, only around 700 people who arrived since the deal was signed were sent back to Turkey, none were sent back after being recognized as refugees. Most of those who returned were economic migrants from countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh who left without seeking asylum in Greece.
At the moment, some 61,000 migrants are still in Greece, including 15,900 in overcrowded island settlements and, as delays continue, there are around 2,500 more arriving each month. This means that camps are holding three times their capacity.
On its part, Brussels blames Greek inefficiency. In its progress report, the European Commission wrote: “The goal of ensuring returns… has mostly been hampered by the slow pace of processing of asylum applications at first instance by the Greek Asylum Service and of processing of appeals by the newly-established Greek Appeals Authority. Further efforts are urgently needed by the Greek administration to build a substantially increased and sustained capacity to return arriving migrants, which is considered to be the key deterrent factor for irregular migrants and smugglers.”
Athens is overwhelmed. In its extensive report, Reuters documents heart-wrenching cases of refugees who wait for their asylum cases to be processed, uncertain of their futures, and months away from an answer. It describes the harrowing ordeal that asylum seekers go through, waiting for their numbers to be published on a notice board so they can move to another camp and queue there for more months. Reuters describes the process as a “cruel bureaucracy” with long waits and squalor turning frustration into violence.
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