EUROPEAN CRISIS: Key Developments of the Past 48

Hours
March 25, 20161
POLITICS
EUROPEAN UNION
Greece Pledges to Create Accommodations for 30,000
Refugees in 20 Days to Avoid Catastrophe: The Greek
government said it will fast-track procedures to create new
centers to accommodate 30,000 people within the next 20
days as it finds itself in a race against time to meet an
obligation to provide shelter to more than 50,000 asylum
seekers stranded in the country, and to prevent an
humanitarian disaster. The current capacity of shelters is
38,000. The decision came amid a growing sense of
urgency surrounding camps around the country and the
increasing realization that the existing infrastructure simply
cannot cope. It also follows the worsening toll on migrants
health after the withdrawal on Wednesday of aid agencies
from camps to protest the EU-Turkey deal. Medecins Sans
Frontiers, the International Rescue Committee, the
Norwegian Refugee Council and Save the Children have all
pulled out.

Contributions from IMI, OSIFE, and MENA/SWA.

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 The government said legislation facilitating the

implementation of the EU deal will be tabled in
Parliament next week, with deportations of migrants
and refugees from Greek islands to Turkey set to
start on April 4; these will be carried out by Frontex.
Human Rights Watch said a humanitarian crisis
was unfolding at the port of Piraeus, where
thousands of asylum seekers and migrants are
stranded. The suffering in Piraeus is a direct
consequence of Europes failure to respond in a legal
and compassionate way to the crisis on its shores, it
said, estimating that there are around 5,000 men,
women, and children at the port. There are reports of
fights between Afghan and Syrian men and mounting
fears of sexual harassment and violence against
women and children. (G. Maniatis)
Turkey Accused of Forcibly Returning Dozens of
Afghans Just Hours After Deal Took Effect: Amnesty
International accused Turkey of forcibly returning around
30 asylum seekers to Afghanistan "just hours after the EUTurkey refugee deal came into force. Turkey has in the
past rejected allegations that it forcibly returns asylum
seekers, and says it is negotiating a readmission agreement
with Afghanistan. "We don't push these people back that is
why there are safe in Turkey right now," its ambassador to
the EU Selim Yenel said, adding that while Afghans and
Iraqis are not entitled to employment in Turkey, they are
protected. (G. Maniatis)

Border Closures Reach Schengen, Symbolic Home of

Europes Free Movement Legacy: The problems of
Europes passport-free Schengen zone reached this week all
the way back to the place it was born: the Luxembourg
village of Schengen, where the EUs free movement treaty
was signed in 1985. Soon after the Brussels attacks, locals
say they witnessed a jarring sight: blinking blue police
lights and a traffic jam on the highway to Germany caused
by newly reinstated border controls.
Germany has been checking documents at its
southeastern borders since September in an attempt to
control the influx of refugees. About two hours after
the Brussels attacks, it added checks on its
southwestern frontieraffecting, among other
places, Schengen.
France reinstated controls after the Nov. 13 Paris
attacks, including on its border with Luxembourg.
Those arent felt in Schengen much because it isnt
near any major crossings to France. Since November,
French security forces operating at 220 crossings
have turned back around 10,000 people, according
to French officials.
Temporary checks are allowed under the Schengen
agreement, but under current rules they are limited to
six months. Ministers are looking at ways now to
extend the limit to two years. Schengen doesnt just

represent the Schengen area, said its mayor. For

many, it is also a kind of synonym for freedom.
A proposal by the European Commission, the EUs
executive arm, to create a new border agency and
allow it to decide on deployment has faced resistance
from some member states, which see it as a step too
far in ceding sovereignty to Brussels. (G. Maniatis)
UN Human Rights Chief Warns of Contradiction at
the Heart of Deal: The top UN human rights official said
the EU-Turkey deal could lead to "collective expulsions" of
refugees in violation of international law. Zeid Ra'ad Al
Hussein said there was "a contradiction at the heart of the
agreement" between its stated aim to return all refugees and
migrants and its assurances that individual claims for
asylum would be assessed. "Disturbingly, there have also
been recent reports of forcible returns amounting to
refoulement from Turkey, Zeid said.
He urged Greece to handle all individual cases
with genuine attention to all protection grounds
required under international human rights law,
including at the appeals stage, and said he has
particular concerns about returns being carried out
on the basis of asylum claims in Greece being found
inadmissible because Turkey is a safe third
country or a first country of asylum. He added:
Even if Turkey does expand its refugee definition
to include non-Europeans, or passes laws qualifying
certain nationalities for temporary protection, it
may not be considered fully safe for all returns in
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the near future, he noted. Refugee and migrant

protection systems are not simply words on paper,
but require trained personnel, tailored policies,
infrastructure and other concrete practical measures
that take time to establish." (G. Maniatis)
GERMANY
Government Increases Welfare Budget to CounterBalance Investments in Refugees: Merkels government
has ended a serious dispute over the costs of its refugee
policy by boosting the welfare budget to calm public anger
about the level of spending on migrants. After weeks of
argument, the coalition backed a financial plan that
continues to balance the budget of Europes largest
economy for the next four years. It adds 2.35 billion to
social spending; this compares with a surge in federal
government spending for refugees of 10 billion next year,
up from around 1.5 billion before the crisis. The dispute
highlights the tensions in the coalition over the crisis, even
though the SPD has largely supported Merkels refugee
policysometimes more enthusiastically than her own
CDU/CSU party bloc. The SPD first called for an increase
in welfare spending in February to counter what he called
a division in society that was feeding support for
rightwing populists, notably the Alternative for Germany.
(G. Maniatis)
THE VATICAN

Washing Feet of Muslims, Pope Francis ExhortsWe

Are Different, We Are DifferentBut We Are
Brothers: Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of
Muslim, Orthodox, Hindu and Catholic refugees in a
moving ceremony during Holy Thursday Mass at a refugee
centre on the outskirts of Rome. They came from Mali,
Eritrea, Syria and Pakistan, and were Muslim, Hindu,
Catholic and Coptic Christians. And one by one, Pope
Francis knelt down before these migrants on Holy
Thursday and washed their feet.
"All of us together, Muslims, Hindus, Catholics,
Copts, Evangelical [Protestants] brothers and
sisterschildren of the same Godwe want to live
in peace, integrated," Francis said during his
homily. A number of the migrants whose feet were
washed by the pope had tears streaming down their
faces.
Francis condemned the attack in Brussels and
those behind such violence. "There are
manufacturers, arms dealers who want blood, not
peace; they want the war, not fraternity," the pope
said. "You, we, all of us together, of different
religions, different cultures, but children of the same
Father, brothers and there, those poor people,
who buy weapons to wreck fraternity," Francis said
Thursday. "Today, at this time, when I do the same
act of Jesus washing the feet of twelve of you, let us
all make a gesture of brotherhood, and let us all say:
'We are different, we are different, we have different
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cultures and religions, but we are brothers and we

want to live in peace.'" (G. Maniatis)
UNITED KINGDOM
Dozens of Celebrities Urge Cameron to Take More
Refugees: "The UK has a proud history of protecting the
victims of war, write a group of 90 British celebrities in an
open letter to PM Cameron urging him to accept more
refugees and help divided families and separated children.
"As the UNHCR convenes a high-level meeting calling for
world leaders to step up and do more to help Syrian
refugees, we urge David Cameron to continue that legacy
by urgently doing more to protect these vulnerable
refugees. UNHCR will hold a conference March 30th to
explore ways to resettle more refugees from camps on
Syrias borders. "We call on you to increase our
resettlement commitment and to strengthen family reunion
policies to help separated children and divided families,"
the celebrities said. Cameron was widely criticized for not
accepting some of the hundreds of thousands of refugees
stranded in other EU nations when he announced a
programme to take 20,000 Syrians direct from refugee
camps in September. The signatories of the open letter,
published in cooperation with British-based Refugee
Action, include designer Vivienne Westwood; film
directors Sam Mendes, Ken Loach and Mike Leigh;
broadcaster Michael Palin; and artists Jake and Dinos
Chapman. (G. Maniatis)
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human

Rights, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, added his voice to the
criticism of the EU Turkey deal: He said that sending
refugees and migrants back across the Aegean to Turkey
appears to contravene international human rights laws and
standards. He stated that the flood of refugees into Europe
would "manageable if the EU acts on the basis of its own
well-established and greatly respected laws and principles."
At the same time, he warned "if the EU starts to circumvent
international law, there could be a deeply problematic
knock-on effect in other parts of the world." (S. Han)
New report from Amnesty International: In a new report,
Amnesty International finds that the combination of
inadequate support from the international community and
Jordanian government policies are leaving Syrian refugees
unable to access health care and other vital services.
Lengthy bureaucratic procedures and government-imposed
health care fees pose significant obstacles for those needing
medical treatment. According to UNHCR, at least 58.3% of
Syrian adults with chronic conditions are not able access
medicines or other health services. (S. Han)
More aid for Lebanon: The World Bank and Islamic
Development Bank have signed multiple agreements worth
hundreds of millions of dollars to help Lebanon cope with
the large number of Syrian refugees it is hosting. The World
Bank deal will provide $100 million in financing to allow
the Lebanese government to improve the quality of public
education it can offer and to get all Lebanese and Syrian
refugee children in schools by the end of the 2016-17
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school year. The money will be provided from a fund used

only for the poorest countries, mostly in Africa and South
Asia, an unusual arrangement meant to show our
appreciation for what Lebanon has done in educating
refugees here." World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim
acknowledged that previously signed agreements with
Lebanon, worth $900 million with, have stalled because
Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 and
the Lebanese parliament rarely meets.
The IDB signed five agreements with Lebanon worth
$373 million, with the possibility of a sixth agreement
worth $400 million.
Both the World Bank and Islamic Development Bank
agreements are part of a partnership between the banks
and the UN, called the New Financing Initiative to
Support the MENA Region, aimed at generating the
development support needed for countries across the
MENA region impacted by the Syrian refugee crisis.
The New Financing Initiative to Support the MENA
Region in particular aims to (1) provide Jordan and
Lebanon with concessional financing to support
refugees and host communities by combining grants
from donor countries with loans from Multilateral
Development Banks (MDBs); and (2) leverage
guarantees from donor countries to raise the financing
needed for post-conflict reconstruction and economic
recovery for in the MENA region by.

 Following a visit from Lebanese Minister of Interior

Nouhad Machnouk, UK Minister for the Middle East
Tobias Ellwood announced that the UK intends to
provide 13 million of additional funding for the
Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF) at least in part
to manage the challenges of hosting Syrian refugees.
Lebanon, a country with a population of 4.8 million
people, hosts about 1 million Syrian refugees. (S. Han)
MEDIA
The Atlantic: The European School Helping Migrant Kids
Feel at Home
A small Swedish school is trying to preserve Assyrian
kids language and cultural heritage while integrating
them into Swedish society Elafskolan, the only school
in Europe with a curriculum specifically designed for
Assyrian children
I think its sad. A country shouldnt take people in if
it cant take care of them, and maybe weve reached
that level. But I think we can do better, says Rhawi, a
popular math teacher (I get ten hugs a day) recently
promoted to his leadership role.
Elafskolan, offers several hours of Assyrian every
week, including weekend courses, as well as extra
classes in Swedish. The faculty members believe the
more comfortable children are in speaking Assyrian,
the more comfortable they will be in Swedishand
that this consolidated identity will encourage them to
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not only integrate into society, but also to contribute to

it
For me its the most beautiful thing if you go to
another country and keep your identity, he says.
There are Swedish schools in England and other
places, where its important to keep the Swedish
identity. And its the same for those coming to Sweden
they should keep their identity as well. We should
work together, hand in hand, and be proud to
cooperate and build this country, any country.
Elafskolan uses new technology in its classrooms to
encourage its pupils to take on the complexities of the
Assyrian language, which was previously taught via
the church, at home, or not at all.
Other European countries currently experimenting in
bilingual programs, such as Germany and the
Netherlands, may see Elafskolan as a way forward to
prolong the future of threatened languages and
cultures while providing a sense of belonging for its
studentswhere integration, not segregation, will
prevail.
Center for European Reform: Doomed5 Reasons
Why the EU-Turkey Refugee Deal Will Not Work
This deal is the EUs boldest but most reckless attempt
yet to tackle the refugee crisis: by putting all its eggs
in the Turkish basket, the EU risks worsening the
crisis if the deal does not work. Many officials admit
privately that failure is the most likely scenario.
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 If a court strikes down the agreement, Brussels will

need to halt its implementation and Europe would
show itself to be unable to deal with this crisis in a
way that was both organised and compatible with
human-rights.
Not even the authors of the deal seem to be overly
optimistic about it: the agreement clearly says that it is
a temporary measure designed to reduce the number of
people crossing the Aegean. If it fails to do that, it will
be called off. If it succeeds, it will then be replaced
with a "voluntary humanitarian admission scheme,"
code for a resettlement program from Turkey.
If the EU does not deliver, Erdogan will present it as a
betrayal by Europe, justifying a less European foreign
policy course. In any case, it is a win-win situation for
the Turkish president, which makes him less
committed to fulfilling his part of the deal.
Financial Times: Cheap LabourThe roots of radical
Islam in Belgium
Islam arrived in Belgium almost as an afterthought,
and thanks partly to a deal sealed in 1967 between
King Baudouin of Belgium and Saudi Arabias King
Faisal. In exchange for favourable oil concessions, the
Belgian government let the Saudis take over a pavilion
in the Cinquantenaire Park, next to the EU quarter of
Brussels. The Saudis converted it into the Great
Mosque and its cultural centre. It is a pattern of
investment traceable in other countries where the
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Saudis have splashed millions on new mosques,

madrassas and religious centres.
Though it wanted a cheap immigrant labour force,
Belgium was unprepared for the cultural implications.
For a long time, the Belgian authorities took a laisser
faire approach towards the new immigrants and their
religious outlook.
Integration into Belgian life through language, the
education system and employment was not treated as a
priority, even after the Algerian civil war of the 1990s
stimulated the growth of radical Islamist sentiment.
Now the Belgian people know that these relaxed
attitudes hatched enemies not only of their country but
of the EU, of which Belgium is so proud a host nation.

Huffington Post: Despite Obstacles, This Small German

Town Is Committed To Refugee Integration
Schwbisch Gmndlocated in the German state of
Baden Wrttemberg and home to 60,000 peoplehas
been hailed as a model of successful refugee
integration, thanks in large part to its mayor, Richard
Arnold.
Arnolds five-point plan, consisting of a focus on
language acquisition, education, introduction to the
job market, decentralized accommodation and
volunteer work, proved to be instrumental in
Schwbisch Gmnds successful integration.
Arnold believes that decentralized accommodation is
the cornerstone of his approach to integration. In
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Schwbisch Gmnd, around 400 refugeeshalf of all

the refugees in the citylive in private households.
Integration does not work if refugees live five to a
room in a hostel, they have to get into private homes,
Arnold said.
Besides decentralized accommodation, volunteer work
is especially close to Arnolds heart. He believes such
work helps refugees, who due to German labor laws
are often required to wait a long time for a work
permit, get to know their community and their new
homeland.
The Guardian: Lesbosa Greek island in limbo over
tourism, refugeesand its future
The island of Lesbos has become a focal point of the
refugee crisis in Greece. Its residents have been
nominated for a Nobel peace prize for their empathy
and assistance but worries persist over long-term
effects to its tourist trade.
The long-term economic impact on Lesbos is unclear
but one short-term problem is that the revenue flows
are geographically uneven. The refugee crisis hasnt
affected the south and the west of the island, but
southern villages such as Plomari will have a bad
tourism season because of it.
The legacy of another refugee crisis shaped modern
Lesbos decisively. In the 1920s, 1.2 million Greek
Orthodox Christians were expelled from Turkey, with
400,000 Muslims moving the other way.
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 Hotel pre-booking is down 45%-50% and cancellation

rates are 20%. And there are just 25 cruise ships set to
dock this year, compared with 46 in 2015.
For now, Lesbos appears to be in limbo. While it
remains uncertain when the tourists will return, the
community is doing what it can to help the refugees.
But as history has already shown, Lesbos will always
be defined by the flow of people to, and from the
island.
FROM THE GROUND
In brief
Greece:
o 1,000 refugees to leave Eidomeni after activist
writes PM
o Refugees held in Lesvos without access to
protection
o International NGOs withdraw from detention
camps
o Refugees protest in Thessaloniki
o Testimonies from Chios hotspot reveal desperate
conditions
o Governments new refugee camps inadequate
Bulgaria: Two men found dead near the Turkish
border
Italy:
o Interior minister: Force to be used for refugee
identification
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o Civil society criticizes the EU-Turkey deal

Macedonia: Refugees stranded at northern border
refuse to leave amid tensions
Turkey: Refugees deported to Afghanistan without
access to asylum
STATISTICS
164,255 arrivals by sea in 2016 (149,125 in Greece,
14,492 in Italy, 638 in Spain)
528 dead or missing in the Mediterranean in 2016, 127
dead and 20 missing in Greek territorial waters
49,560 refugees stranded in Greece on 25 March
according to the government
Refugees stranded per country on 23 March:
Macedonia 1,191; Serbia 2,000; Croatia 192; Slovenia
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GREECE
1,000 refugees to leave Eidomeni after activist writes
PM Vasilis Tsartsanis, an OSIFE grantee and activist who
has been helping refugees in Eidomeni for the past two
years, wrote an open letter on 24 March to Greeces PM
Alexis Tsipras detailing the situation on the ground in
Eidomeni, the town next to the border with Macedonia
where over 12,000 refugees remained stranded on 25
March. Tsartsanis highlighted the dangers refugees face at
the site, being forced to pay gangs for a space in tents
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abandoned by NGOs and falling prey to an estimated 150

smugglers operating in the area. The letter, endorsed by
European Parliament VP Josef Weidenholzer and widely
shared on Greek social media, led the governments
coordination unit for refugees to contact Tsartsanis and
involve him in the response to the ongoing humanitarian
crisis. The government has now sent 20 buses to Eidomeni
to transport up to 1,000 refugees to newly built refugee
camps across the country, agreeing to Tsartsanis suggestion
that it will guarantee, orally on 25 March and in writing
soon after, that none of the refugees currently in Eidomeni
would face deportation to Turkey. Fear of deportation had
led many refugees at the site to refuse to leave the area,
afraid that they would be detained in the governments
official refugee camps. Tsartsanis will continue his
advocacy by hosting a German government delegation in
the coming days before addressing OSF Scholarship
Program grantees in Budapest on 1 April. (M.
Moschopoulos)
Refugees held in Lesvos without access to protection
Approximately 1,100 refugees are detained in the former
hotspot and first reception center at Moria, on the island of
Lesvos, without having received any documents detailing
the legal basis of their detention or the process that lies
ahead for them. Lawyers familiar with the site said that no
such documents had been made available until 24 March,
when a leaflet in English was handed out reading you are
detained legally and temporarily, you have the right to ask
for full information-explanation of your rights, ask for
information from your countrys authorities and ask for a
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lawyer, as you will be examined. These claims are widely

contested by civil society actors who insist that the
refugees detention, in line with the recent EU-Turkey deal,
is unlawful. Riot police cracked down on a solidarity
protest outside the hotspot on 24 March, arresting one
activist. (M. Moschopoulos)
International NGOs withdraw from detention camps
Oxfam and Save the Children have also withdrawn their
services from the former hotspot in Moria and other Greek
island sites where refugees are detained in the context of
the EU-Turkey deal, following the UNHCR and other
international NGOs. Oxfam said in a statement that aid
should be delivered in a neutral environment where
refugees have freedom of movement, while Save the
Children said their decision was made due to extreme
concerns that newly-arrived vulnerable children and their
families are in danger of unlawful and unjustified custody
for sustained periods of time. (M. Moschopoulos)
Refugees protest in Thessaloniki Approximately 100
refugees protested in Thessaloniki demanding that the
Balkan route borders are re-opened to allow them safe
passage to northern Europe. The group left the Diavata
camp near the city and marched for two hours to the
downtown Aristotelous square. Protesters have remained at
the point, despite police threats that they will not be
allowed back in the Diavata camp unless they leave the
downtown immediately. One refugee has said that his
family has also been threatened with expulsion from the

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camp due to his participation in the protest. (M.

Moschopoulos)
Testimonies from Chios hotspot reveal desperate
conditions Activists interviewed refugees from outside
the fences of the former hotspot in Chios which now serves
as a detention center for refugees after the EU-Turkey deal.
We are in jail here in Greece. We want to go out. I have
my wife in Germany. Old people, children... They don't
have shelter. No blankets. They are cold. Girls and boys, 23 months old, don't have milk to eat. We need freedom
said one of the refugees, while another one referred to a
man in a wheelchair saying we helped him get in for
freedom in Europe. When somebody drowns in the sea, all
the media of the world are crying about it. If somebody has
passed across the sea now that we are here they are sending
us back again. What is this? One other man highlighted
the unwillingness of European states to fulfill their
obligations related to family reunification saying that my
family is in Germany. One boy, one girl, living there. I have
a right to go there. The embassy refused me. This is why I
am doing this illegally. It is my right to meet my children. I
have this right. The activists conducting the interviews
said that police told them to stop talking with the
refugees shortly after they recorded these testimonies on
21 March. (M. Moschopoulos)
Governments new refugee camps inadequate Reports
we receive from monitors and activists suggest that the
refugee camps that have been set up by the government do
not afford refugees with decent living conditions or access
to their rights. At Cherso, near the Macedonian border,
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2,180 people were present on 23 March without any

UNHCR, EASO or NGO support. There were 720 children
under the age of 16 at the camp, including 180 under the
age of 3 and 25 babies that were less than 9 months old. A
photo from a camp near the northwestern city of Ioannina
showed that the tents had no flooring or any other cover for
the ground, forcing refugees to sleep in the mud and amid
rocks. Locals had attempted to block buses transporting
refugees to a camp in the area on 21 March. The situation
in Diavata, near Thessaloniki, is reported by refugees
detained there as horrible. In the northern port city of
Kavala, refugees have been threatened with exclusion from
the asylum and relocation process if they make any
complaints, while city officials told at least one asylum
lawyer who volunteered her services that she wasnt needed
as they didnt want to end up with refugees staying there.
Refugees in Athens have complained that they have been
unable to register for the relocation program, despite
attempts to do so both through the UNHCR and its
implementing partner Praksis. The government has
announced plans to open another 19 refugee camps in the
coming days in an effort to provide shelter for another
30,000 people. (M. Moschopoulos)
BULGARIA
Two men found dead near the Turkish border
Bulgarian police found the bodies of two yet unidentified
men near the town of Malko Tarnovo, a kilometer away
from the border with Turkey on 23 March. Refugees have
died while attempting to reach northern Europe through
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Bulgaria due to the harsh weather conditions and the

difficult terrain they need to cross, while police had shot an
Afghan refugee dead during his attempt to enter the country
from Turkey in October 2015. (M. Moschopoulos)
ITALY
Interior Minister: Force to be used for refugee
identification On 17 March Italy's Interior Minister
Angelino Alfano announced that he was studying new
measures that, among other things, would ensure the
identification of migrants also through the "use of force".
The announcement was commented by the Minister of
Justice Andrea Orlando, who clarified that fingerprinting
would happen only with the consent of migrants. Some
police unions also made reference to the need to respect
human rights while identifying people in the hot spots. (M.
Perduca)
Civil society criticizes the EU-Turkey deal The NGOs
members of the Tavolo Nazionale Asilo (National Asylum
group) Arci, Asgi, Federazione delle Chiese Evangeliche in
Italia, Centro Astalli, FOCUS Casa dei Diritti Sociali,
Medici per i Diritti Umani, Consiglio Italiano per i
rifugiati, SenzaConfine, (some of which are current or
former OSF grantees) issued a statements criticizing the
EU-Turkey agreement adopted last week considering it
against national and international law. They also asked
Parliament to request a formal ratification of such an
agreement. (M. Perduca)

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MACEDONIA
Refugees stranded at northern border refuse to leave
amid tensions Total of 1,276 people currently reside in
the Tabanovce camp, out of which 933 inside the camp or
476 Afghan, 328 Syrian, 120 Iraqi people, 13 from Iran, 4
of Libya and 1 person from Pakistan. Approximately 237
people are in the so-called "no-man's land" at the Serbian
border, out of which 230 Syrian and 7 people from Iraq.
Around 40 people were involved in a brawl yesterday on
the Northern border at the transit center of Tabanovce.
Alcohol consumption, tension, uncertainty and living
conditions in the camp contribute to occasional unrests that
can potentially spill over among the different ethnic groups
present in the camp. According to eyewitnesses, a dispute
broke out between Syrian and Afghan men over the use of
bathroom utilities and hot water by their female partners.
The police intervened accordingly. People stranded in the
cross-border area with Serbia refuse assistance and are
committed to remain there until Serbian police allow them
to cross. They regularly use the services in the Tabanovce
camp. Activists are not allowed to reach their location due
to what police officials call a government decision. Despite,
the Red Cross and UNHCR staff can move freely to the
zone. Activists and NGO personnel advise those stranded to
relocate to the Gevgelija camp at the southern border to
benefit from better living conditions and to minimize
chances for incidents, violence and health threats.
However, only 44 people, mainly of Syrian and Iraqi
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origin, have voluntarily left the camp and were transferred

to the camp in Gevgelija. (S. Indjevska)
TURKEY
Refugees deported to Afghanistan without access to
asylum Amnesty International has released a statement
based on credible information that at least 30 refugees have
been deported to Afghanistan without having been provided
access to international protection. Amnesty, which had
previously reported in December 2015 that Turkey had
been detaining refugees without providing access to legal
counsel and returning them to Syria and Iraq, has been
fiercely critical of the provisions of the EU-Turkey deal.
Turkish authorities have acknowledged that refugees have
been returned to Afghanistan, claiming that they were
voluntary returns. Turkey has retained a geographic
limitation on the refugee convention that would preclude
anyone not fleeing events in Europe from being recognized
as a refugee in its territory. The Egyptian government cited
this limitation on 24 March as one of the reasons the EUTurkey deal is in violation of the stipulations of the fourth
Geneva Convention regarding individuals fleeing from
armed conflict and returning them to an unsafe country.
(M. Moschopoulos)

END

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