EU Migrant Crisis; Turkey Bargains Hard
EU Migrant Crisis; Turkey bargains hard – Earlier this week, the Turkish government made a proposal to the EU to help them manage the migrant crisis that has been disturbing Europe since 2015. In return for the proposal to help, Turkey is also asking for more financial aid, accelerated talks on Turkey joining the EU and visa free travel for its citizens. The Turkish Prime Minister Davotoglu in a meeting with EU ministers told them that his country was ready to accept all migrants from Turkey that were refused asylum in Europe from a set date. This also included anyone caught within the territorial waters of the country.
EU Migrant Crisis; Turkey Bargains Hard
The EU is presently going over the request made by Turkey through its prime Minister. The request includes; doubling the funding necessary to help Syrian refuges in Turkey. This also includes the cost of taking a Refugee from Turkey into the EU for each refugee that Turkey takes from the Greek Aegian Islands which is now inundated with migrants. An EU Turkey summit that was scheduled to last for half a day was extended to allow the Turkish Prime Minister present all his points. The EU members who are desperate to find a solution to the migrant crisis were happy to discuss the proposal made by Turkey.
It is rumored that during a meeting held Sunday with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutt, the Turkish Prime Minister demanded much more than the 3 billion euro that was originally agreed as the amount required to offer support to all Syrian refugees in Turkey. As the prime minster arrived at the summit, he was eager to tell the press that all the challenges so far can be solved through better cooperation of all parties involved. He also pointed out that although the talks would be on the migration crisis, he hoped that some of the talks will also focus on hastening the process for turkey to become an EU member.
EU Migrant Crisis; Turkey Bargains Hard
Another proposal that was made by Turkey as exchange for accepting to take on more migrants is for the process to allow visa free travel for its citizen to be hastened. Turkey is now hoping that these negotiations that were supposed to take place in October could now be moved to June. Accordingly, the EU is happy to move this date to June. However, there are concerns over the pressure anti-Muslim parties in EU countries may place on their governments. As such, while the EU is happy with the June date, that will only be if Turkey was ready to modify its visa policy towards Muslim states as well as use biometric passports that are not easy to fake.
Against this backdrop, EU leaders point out clearly that all these requests are coming in at the same time when the Turkish government has been cracking down on the press. This is a practice that is against the values upheld by the EU. EU leaders had raised concerns about human rights in Turkey after the government cracked down on a popular newspaper. Despite all of this, the EU is being very careful to ensure that it does not alienate Turkey.
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Fact Sheet – UNHCR Turkey – February 2022
There are currently 3.7 million Syrian refugees under temporary protection in Turkey, and over 320,000 refugees and asylum seekers under international protection. PMM, the Presidency of Migration Management, registered 29,256 new IP applications in 2021.
Turkey’s refugee response is based on a comprehensive legal framework, including the Temporary Protection Regulation (2014) and the Law on Foreigners and International Protection (2013).
The UNHCR co-leads with the UNDP the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) coordinating partner assistance to Turkey’s inclusive refugee response and chairs the UNSDCF Migration, International Protection, and Harmonization Results Group.
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