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While the statistics show a resounding success, the EU is now effectively held "over a barrel" according to critics, with President Racep Erdogan clashing with member states and Brussels chiefs on domestic as well as international issues.

Critics have long feared the deal gives Turkey far too much political power over the EU, acting as an effective Sword of Damocles over eurocrats heads.

In the latest feud Turkey has been enraged by the decision of a number of European governments, especially the Netherlands, to prohibit pro-Erdogan rallies ahead of a referendum back home on expanding his powers.

There are four million ethnic Turks living in Europe all of whom have a vote on the constitutional changes, which could help tilt the knife-edge contest in the presidents favour.

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But Ukip MEP Jane Collins said the agreement had been a political disaster for Brussels and has left it totally powerless to challenge President Erdogan on his repeated human rights breaches.

She told Express.co.uk: "Turkey has the EU over a barrel over this issue of migration because the EU is a magnet for illegal migration from Africa and the Middle East.

"The EU has not solved the migrant crisis of previous summers and with the fighting in Syria, Iraq and Yemen and people still looking for a better life in the EU - particularly in the UK - there is every reason to think that we will simply have another summer where the traffickers are in control.

"That means problems at ports, threats to drivers, criminal gangs raking in millions to fund terrorism and the inevitable tragic deaths in the Mediterranean."

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She added: "There needs to be a strong message sent out that we will be turning back boats from whence they came, that we will not be permitting huge numbers of migrants travelling from Turkey into EU countries in order to travel through to other richer countries.

The Socialist and Democrats (S&D) group in the EU parliament, led by the Italian MEP Gianni Pitella, is calling on Brussels to freeze the accession talks with Ankara saying it is not suitable for EU membership.

But such a move would almost certainly kill off the migrant pact and Manfred Weber, chairman of the centre-right EPP grouping, said it should be kept in place.

Asked about the vulnerable position it puts the EU in, he added: In my talks I have no indication that they will use this as a leverage.

It is for the moment for both sides a win-win situation to implement the agreement and nobody has an interest in the smugglers and the mafia winning back control of the refugee flows.

And this week Turkeys foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu once again suggested Ankara is ready to cancel the agreement following a series of scrapes with Brussels.

But in purely statistical terms the agreement, which was formally sealed between the EU and Ankara on March 18 last year, has been a resounding success.

Europe has a moral responsibility to do better for those who need us the most

Sue Jex, Care4Calais

At the beginning of 2016 Europe was facing an increasingly untenable migration crisis, with more than a million asylum seekers having arrived the year before and many member states at breaking point.

Desperate to stem the flow of people and assuage increasingly restless voters back home, the 28 EU member states stitched together a pact with Turkey, the launchpad for most migrants to Europe.

Under the terms of the deal Ankara agreed to take back all undocumented migrants arriving in Greece, with Europe then taking one genuine Syrian refugee for every person sent back.

In return Turkey received 2.6 billion to help it cope with the three million refugees living in camps on its territory, as well as a pledge to re-energise its accession talks with Brussels.

Statistics from the United Nations refugee agency (UNCHR) show that the number of new arrivals in Greece has plummeted by 98 per cent year-on-year since the agreement was signed.

In the first three months of 2016 a massive 151,452 people made it to Greece on rafts from Turkey, but by the same period this year that number had dropped to just 2,813.

As a result, the number of refugees dying on the perilous Mediterranean crossing has also almost halved, from 272 dead and 152 missing in November 2015, to 146 dead and 51 missing in November last year.

Eurocrats have insisted that the figures show the deal is working, with EU Commission chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas telling reporters on Thursday Brussels remains fully behind its implementation.

His deputy, Alexander Winterstein, answered further questions about the deal the next day and pointed to the number of lives - "real people, real fathers, mothers, children who are being saved" - that have not been lost at sea as a result of a million fewer people attempting the dangerous trip by sea.

Aside from the political ramifications, critics have long argued the EU-Turkey deal breaches various international laws and customs on the treatment of migrants and refugees.

There have been tales of asylum seekers spending months on the Greek islands in summer tents not designed for the harsh winter, and with little access to basic sanitation and legal advice.

But despite this eurocrats are now actively pushing for the signing of a similar deal with war-torn Libya which would prevent a fresh influx of people into Europe via Italy.

Sue Jex, the head of UK operations at the refugee support charity Care4Calais, said humanitarian organisations would strongly oppose such a move because the North African state is not safe.

UNICEF

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A migrant gestures from behind the bars of a cell at a detention centre in Libya

She told Express.co.uk: "We do not believe that forcibly returning people to unsafe zones can ever be a morally acceptable policy. Seeing the suffering and uncertainty of those trapped in Greece does little to recommend this deal as a civilised option.

Over the last year we have watched desperate and vulnerable people pushed to take ever more dangerous routes across the Balkans. The stories we hear of children being beaten by the police, and of women being robbed and subjected to violence, do not indicate that current policies are in any way effective.

Europe's policies on migration are based on a belief in pull factors, when it is so much more important to consider the horrific trials and tribulations that refugees are fleeing from.

Care4Calais would firmly oppose any similar deal between Italy and Libya. Europe has a moral responsibility to do better for those who need us the most.

Her remarks were echoed by Philippe Dam, a co-president of Human Rights Watch who said that Turkey, let alone Libya, was not a safe country to return migrants to.

He said: There are now almost 13,000 asylum seekers stranded on the Greek islands in the context of this deal, to face immense suffering and despair.

The deal set a very dangerous precedent and its implementation led to unacceptable and unjustified sufferings.

The month long and sometimes year-long containment and sufferings on the Greek islands are the best argument why replicating these policies would be a definite blueprint for abuse.

A year on from its implementation, critics and supporters of the EU-Turkey deal remain divided between a moral vision of Europes duties, and a political necessity to reduce levels of immigration.

But with relations between Brussels and Ankara deteriorating at an unprecedented and alarming rate, few would bet that the agreement will survive the next 12 months of its rocky life.

Originally posted here:
EU-Turkey migrant deal one year on: Erdogan has EU 'over a barrel' with 'inhumane' policy - Express.co.uk

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Emmanuel Macron, a centrist and liberal, is the pollsters favourite to win in the French elections in May - coming just ahead of Front National leader Marine Le Pen.

But during a televised presidential debate on Monday night, he was attacked by his rival over a visit he made to Germany this week in which he heaped praise on Chancellor Angela Merkel.

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Mr Fillon roasted his competitor over the hour-long meeting in Berlin, as he launched a brutal offensive on how Germany has tackled the migrant crisis.

And the former prime minister accused Mrs Merkels management of refugees as being the cause of huge problems that have faced Europe in recent months.

WHO WILL BE NEXT FRENCH PRESIDENT?

REUTERS

He said: "I completely disagree with Emmanuel Macron who praised the German chancellor when he was in Berlin for (refugee) policies that turned out to be bad policies and which are now criticised by her own allies in Germany.

The way this crisis was handled has created an enormous problem for Europe.

Although Mr Fillon belongs to the same conservative party family as Mrs Merkel, he has not shied away from criticising her on a range of issues - slamming sanctions on Moscow as "totally ineffective".

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The way this [migrant] crisis was handled has created an enormous problem for Europe

Francois Fillon

The comments come as the top candidates in France's presidential election went head-to-head as polls showed centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen pulling away from the pack five weeks before the first round.

Mr Fillon has seen his support slide since being accused of using hundreds of thousands of euros in public money to pay his wife for work she may have not done.

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It is expected he will fail to make it into the second round runoff.

The debate, the first between the five main candidates, may be crucial in helping viewers make up their minds in a bizarre election campaign that has seen major twists and turns.

Opinion polls show almost 40 percent of voters are not sure who to back in the election, which will be held over two rounds on April 23 and May 7.

Original post:
'It created an enormous problem' Fillon blasts Macron for praising Merkel's migrant policy - Express.co.uk

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The European Union already backs Libyas government with 200 million worth of support to tackle people smugglers who provide the unseaworthy craft which carry thousands of migrants north into the waiting arms of European coastguards and volunteer rescue missions but now the country is requesting more.

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Libyas fragile, UN-backed unity government has now asked for an additional 800 million worth of equipment for their patrol efforts including ships, helicopters, off-road vehicles, and radar. The Italian government is already providing Libya with ten patrol craft, to be delivered before the summer.

TheLibya HeraldreportsLibyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarrajflew to Rome with a shopping list of demands, including the call for more money and equipment,in the wake of some 20,000 having made the crossing this year alone. An estimated 3,000 migrants were rescued in the Mediterranean in just the past weekend.

The new agreement struck Monday with Italy and other European nations agreeing to help Libya patrol her coastand keep the smuggler boats from setting off was short on actual detail or a plan to improve the situation, but instead showed a will, said the Italian interior minister. Democratic party minister Marco Minniti said of the meeting:

Naturally we havent resolved the problem because its clear no one has the definitive solution to the problem in their pockets.

But we have common will. And this common will has a common objective: to not chase or suffer illegal migration but govern it.

Austrian interior ministerWolfgang Sobotka praised the movement with Libya, telling press:We have to do everything we can to stop the illegal migration across the Mediterranean, reportsKronen Zeitung.

The spending of British and European money in Libya has come under considerable criticism this year, as the poor conditions of migrant camps set up in the country courted criticism. Future spending may see camps established in other North African nations.

While a not insignificant amount of money, the 800 million now discussed will be dwarfed by coming European contributions if a new African Marshall Plan, an aid package designed to boost African nations, is put into place. President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani said if the bloc doesnt start pumping cash into the continent immediately, 20 million Africans are going to come to Europe in the coming years.

Continue reading here:
Migrant Crisis Summit: Libya Demands 800 Million to Stop Smuggler Boats - Breitbart News

Somali refugee Abdulaziz says he is "suffocating" in an overcrowded camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, where he shares a tent with a dozen other Africans.

The 30-something resident of the Moria camp had been hoping to reach Germany when he set off on his journey, but instead is stuck on this Greek island off Turkey's western coast waiting for his asylum claim to process.

"It's like a prison here. ... I'm suffocating," said Abdulaziz who has been languishing in the camp for the past eight months.

"There is always someone screaming, always fights," said Abdulaziz, who was injured in the leg while fleeing from Turkish police.

He is just one of the thousands of migrants and refugees stranded on Greek islands a year after Turkey signed a landmark agreement with the European Union to substantially reduce migrant flows.

Ankara and Brussels forged the deal on March 18, 2016.

In the agreement, which took effect two days later, Ankara pledged to take back all illegal migrants landing in Greece in order to help stem migrant flows to the EU.

The deal helped put the brakes on a massive influx of migrants and refugees, especially from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, which had mushroomed into a combustible political and social issue in Europe.

Turkey's pledge, in exchange for more aid, visa-free travel and the speeding up of Ankara's long-stalled EU accession talks, was also aimed at deterring migrants from making the perilous sea crossing in the first place, knowing they could be sent back.

Some 1,183 migrants were returned to Turkey in the year ending in January, Greek police figures show.

But, along with a series of border closures in the Balkans and eastern Europe last year, the EU-Turkey deal has transformed the Greek islands into vast holding pens for refugees and migrants.

Many of the camps are overcrowded and there are frequent clashes, with those inside tired of the long wait for asylum papers and fearful of being returned to Turkey.

On Lesbos, there are nearly 5,000 people in camps nominally built to hold 3,500, according to government figures.

The Greek immigration ministry has refused to permit large-scale relocation from the islands to the mainland, fearing that such a move could jeopardise the EU-Turkey agreement that has helped stem further arrivals to the continent.

Conditions at Moria, a camp that has long been plagued by poor living standards and overcrowding, have improved, said Achilleas Tzemos, a field coordinator with Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

The relocation of the most vulnerable, including unaccompanied migrant children and torture victims, has accelerated with at least 10,000 moved elsewhere, according to the UNHCR. But those who stay suffer with uncertainty at the very least.

"Not knowing what awaits them subjects them to a great deal of fear," Tzemos said.

According to MSF there has been a "sharp increase" in self-mutilations and suicide attempts.

The United Nations children's agency on Friday said the EU-Turkey agreement had increased suffering notably among children, despite curbing migrants flows.

"While there has been a major decrease in the overall numbers of children on the move into Europe since last March, there has been an increase in the threats and distress refugee and migrant children endure," UNICEF's migrant crisis coordinator Afshan Khan said in a statement.

In the past year, 851 people whose asylum claims were rejected or who simply gave up, were returned to Turkey, according to Greek police figures.

Even people entitled to international protection gave up, lawyers said, because they didn't understand the procedural mechanisms, or because they needed to escape the misery of the camps.

"Information is essential" for refugees, said Philip Worthington, a project coordinator at the European Lawyers association in Lesbos.

During one asylum interview, he said an Iraqi exile highlighted his qualities as a truck driver rather than the persecutions he suffered because of his Christian religion.

The EU is starting to cope with the situation, which refugees' rights organisations have criticised as a humanitarian scandal.

Rising tensions between residents and migrants, media images of flimsy tents crushed under heavy snow falls, and the deaths of three migrants at the Moria camp in January, for reasons still unclear, have galvanised Greek authorities.

The war of words between the EU and Turkey over the migrant deal has escalated in recent days after Ankara blasted Germany and the Netherlands for preventing Turkish ministers from campaigning ahead of a key April referendum.

The EU said it expects Turkey to honor the deal after Ankara threatened to bin it.

See the rest here:
The EU migrant deal with Turkey has turned Greek islands into open-air prisons - PRI

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The Sun newspaper reportsthat334,800 out of 1.2 million asylum seekers in 2016 were from Syria, with hundreds of thousands coming from countries such as Pakistan, Nigeria, and Albania.

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The numbers may surprise some members of the public, given the heavy emphasis placed on migrants fleeing war-torn Syria by much of the Left-leaning media and politicians.

The true figure may be even lower, with European authorities having struggled to identify migrants posing as Syrians fraudulently for years.

At 1.2 million, total asylum claims for 2016 fell only 92,000 short of their previous record high in 2015, despite the conclusion of a 6 billion euro deal with Turkey to contain the flow of migrants through that country a deal which is now being threatened by the Islamist government in Ankara.

Sixty per cent of all asylum claims (722,265) were made in Germany, where the government declared there was no limiton the number of migrants it would accept in 2015, but has taken a seemingly harder line in advance of this years federal elections.

The UK took the sixth-highest number of asylum seekers for the year, at 38,290.

SOURCE: Pew Research Center

Greece saw a stunning 339 per cent increase in asylum claims, with arrivals from Turkey finding it harder to proceed to other European countries after Hungary led the way on strong border controls, reducing its own claims total by 84 per cent.

Better border controls have also drastically reduced entry via Bulgaria, where civilian volunteerspatrol the Turkish frontier and turn back illegal migrants, and via the lesser known Arctic route, where thousands used to cross to Scandinavia via Russia.

Italy saw a huge surge in illegal migration, however. Illegal sea crossings reaching an all-time annual high and areincreasing dramaticallyas 2017 proceeds.

Over a million asylum applications were still being reviewed by national authorities as 2016 drew to a close.

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Migrant Crisis: Barely a Quarter of Asylum Seekers Are Syrian - Breitbart News