Greece starts migrants deportations to Turkey

 

The first boat carrying migrants being deported from Greece has arrived in Turkey as part of an EU plan aimed at easing mass migration to Europe.

Most of the 136 people who left Lesbos and arrived in Dikili, western Turkey, on Monday were Pakistanis.
Under the deal, for each Syrian migrant returned to Turkey, the EU is due to take in another Syrian who has made a legitimate request.
Sixteen Syrian migrants were the first to arrive in Germany from Turkey.
However, Syrians were not among the first group of deportees, Greek authorities said, adding they included citizens from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Morocco who had not applied for asylum.
 Turkey's EU Affairs Minister Volkan Bozkir also said no Syrians had been sent from Greece.
Another ferry carrying migrants was expected to arrive in Turkey from the Greek island of Chios.
The first returns were carried out calmly, Ewa Moncure, spokeswoman for the EU border agency Frontex, told reporters in Lesbos.
Activists staged small protests there, and some shouted "No to deportations" and "EU shame on you".
In Dikili, demonstrators displayed a banner which read "Stop deportations. Open Borders!"
 Under the EU-Turkey deal, migrants arriving illegally in Greece are expected to be sent back to Turkey if they do not apply for asylum or if their claim is rejected.
Shortly after the returns started, Greek coast officials rescued two boats near Lesbos with more than 50 migrants, including children and a woman in a wheelchair, Reuters news agency said.
Migrants in Greece have complained of a lack of information about the asylum procedure and some said they were unaware they could be returned.
Frontex has less than one-tenth of the staff needed to do the job, the Associated Press reported.
 Both Turkey and Greece have made a panicked rush to meet this deadline - and neither country is really ready.
Only a fraction of the necessary staff have arrived on the Greek islands to accompany the process and in Turkey the preparation is still sketchy.
Two tents have been erected in Dikili to register the first group from Lesbos, with similar facilities further south to receive migrants sent from Chios.
The Turkish interior minister says non-Syrians will be deported while Syrians will be sent to refugee camps where they will replace those who will be directly resettled in Europe as part of the "one for one" plan.
 But there are still grave doubts over whether the deal will hold and if the migrants will be properly treated when they arrive here.

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The arrangement has alarmed rights groups, who say Turkey is not a safe country for migrants.
Amnesty International has accused Turkey of illegally returning Syrians to their homeland, something Turkey denies.
Save the Children called the deal "illegal and inhumane", saying people told them they would kill themselves if sent back to Turkey.
 Since the deal was struck in March, about 400 people have been arriving each day on the Greek islands.
Tens of thousands have been stuck in Greece after northern countries closed their borders. There have been clashes in camps amid dire conditions.
One million migrants and refugees have entered the EU by boat from Turkey to Greece since last year.
Many are keen to travel to Germany and other northern EU countries and experts have warned the deal could force them to take alternative, more dangerous routes.
In Austria meanwhile, pro-migrant protesters clashed with police at a border crossing with Italy.
It comes after Austrian Defence Minister Peter Doskozil said soldiers would be deployed at a key transit point, saying the EU's outer borders were not properly protected.

Nigerians are paying part of the sins of the 16-year rule of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, through the lingering fuel crisis in the country, All Progressives Congress, APC, national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, said yesterday.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/nigerians-paying-sins-pdp-tinubu-s-east-apc/