Greece returns first group of refugees to Türkiye
The plan to expel refugees who entered the European Union from Turkey began on Monday, April 5. Hundreds of refugees applied for asylum in Greece before the plan began. The mass expulsion of these asylum seekers from the European Union will not be easy.
According to FCNN, the implementation of the EU-Turkey refugee return agreement began on Monday, March 4. The first ship carrying refugees who have illegally entered Greek territory since March 20 left the Greek island of Lesbos at 6 a.m. on Monday for the Turkish port of Dikili.
The Turkish port of Lesbos was supposed to receive 250 refugees a day, and a total of 740 in the first three days of this week. But hours before the deportations were due to begin, many of them applied for asylum in Greece.
A police spokesman for the island of Lesbos confirmed to DW that 2,718 of the 2,987 migrants living in the Moria camp on the island of Lesbos had applied for asylum as of Sunday night.
This number was around 500 applications until three days ago. Greece must now process the applications of all these refugees, and their mass deportation is not possible under EU law.
First, the expulsion of men who traveled alone
The mass deportation of refugees was to include single men who had entered Greece from Turkey since April 10. The largest number of refugees included in the plan were citizens of Pakistan, North African countries, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Central African countries.
It is not yet clear whether 250 refugees will also be returned to Türkiye on Monday.
By Sunday night, about 130 people had been taken to a section of the Moria camp separated from the rest by barbed wire. All of them were Pakistani citizens.
Mohammad Jawad, one of these refugees, told DW that he has been traveling alone from Pakistan for 17 years and has reached Greece.
He says he is not yet of legal age and should not be deported under EU law. However, the registration officers do not believe his claims and estimate his age to be at least 22 or 23 years old.
Determining the age of asylum seekers who identify themselves as underage is one of the serious challenges facing European countries in dealing with asylum seekers.
Police escort to Turkish territory
Greek authorities have increased police presence on the island of Lesbos ahead of the planned mass deportation of refugees. In addition, 350 police officers from Iceland, France, the Netherlands and other EU countries have been deployed to Lesbos to enforce the EU-Turkey deal.
The forces will support the transfer of refugees by bus to a port on Lesbos, and some will accompany the boats to Turkey. It appears that there is one police officer for every refugee on the journey.
Human rights activists and NGOs opposing the mass deportation of refugees from the European Union are scheduled to gather on Lesbos at 9 a.m. Greek police, concerned that the rally could turn violent, have increased the number of security forces deployed at the site.
Source: Deutsche Welle
