Migration to Europe: Refugee Crisis

A Review of the Current Situation
The unsuitable human conditions of these migrants caused numerous international reactions. In his recent report the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, following the signing of the agreement between the EU and Turkey called the refugees’ conditions on the Greek island of Lesbos as terrible and inhuman. According to this report, refugees are kept in open air camps and are not given enough food, and at least 60,000 registered refugees in Greece are in uncertain conditions. A large number of them without being registered, are illegally awaiting for the right opportunity to reach Europe. Thousands of people that include children and the elderly are behind FYR Macedonia’s closed borders, under difficult conditions. Health and hygiene services are inadequate. The loss of loved ones on the journey has put a number of these refugees in terrible mental conditions. More than half of them (52%) are Syrians, and in fact have fled the conflict, constant bombings and the ISIS threat. The rest are manly from war torn countries of Afghanistan and Iraq.
The increase in pressure on some countries such as Greece, Italy and Hungary, which are main entry points of refugees, created disagreements between European countries. These countries have been unable to solve the refugee crisis.
Therefore, perhaps the finding of a logical strategy based on responsibility, solidarity and trust might be the only way to solve this extensive crisis.
Global Approach
After several talks, what the EU ultimately voted for is an agreement that was announced on 18 March, 2016, that stated refugees who arrive in Greece, in the event they do not register for asylum or their request is rejected, get returned to Turkey.
Of course according to the law of 4 April 2016, Greece has exempted some vulnerable groups from this rule:
- Unaccompanied children
- Disabled children
- the physically or mentally ill
- Pregnant women and women that have delivered recently
Before the recent agreement, the Turkish government accepted those Syrian refugees who had valid passports and entered Turkey through official border crossings, and the majority of the rest who had entered Turkey illegally registered them as refugees.
According to current laws and regulations in Europe two preconditions are required to expel asylum seekers, which means until such time that these conditions are not realised, the expulsion of any asylum seekers on any pretext or according to any agreement is unlawful
- The individual should not have requests asylum, or if requested one, following various legal procedures and appeals, which in some instances could take several years, the individual has received a final negative answer. This does not mean the expulsion of the asylum seeker, and European governments are obliged to consider another condition.
- The country which the asylum seeker is to be expelled to must be “safe”.
European human rights laws do not allow the government to permit the expulsion of an asylum seeker to wherever possible or agreements made. The usual routine is that the asylum seeker is expelled to his or her country and not a third country.
An asylum seeker must be sent to a third country when:
a) The responsibility of the assessment of the asylum seeking is done by the third country.
b) The asylum seeker is protected from expulsion or return.
c) The individual is able to request asylum and if he or she is recognised as an asylum seeker to benefit from accepted international standards for refugees, and have full access to education, employment, health services and if necessary a social worker.
The View of Human Rights Organizations
With regards to the EU-Turkey agreement, various human rights groups that include Amnesty International and other groups who in some form or other work with refugees, that as a third country not only Turkey does not observe European human rights and judicial standards, on a daily basis the country is turning more and more into an unsafe place for refugees and even its own nationals.
What must not be forgotten s that it cannot be concealed from the social legitimacy, the implementation of these programmes – in the long run – will not be possible without the support or silence of a specific sectors of Europeans who are themselves victims of austerity, financial crises, Islamophobia propaganda.
It seems the ultimate aim of the decision makers of this agreement is to close the borders on illegal migration, and not individuals who really need asylum
Unfortunately in spite of all the measures taken by the EU, the basis rights of refugees continue to get violated.
In its 1 April 2016 report, Amnesty International states that following the agreement with the EU, the Turkish government has begun to forcefully expel Syrian refugees back to Syria, and warned of the continuation of this policy.
In this report Turkey is accused of “illegally detaining refugees and putting them under pressure to return to conflict regions.”
From human rights aspects, these refugees deserve to enjoy their basic human rights and their dignity be respected, and those refugees whose asylum requests are approved, must have international and local law support as refugees and they be given a place to live and have their basic needs.
And those asylum seekers whose asylum request is has been rejected through a fair and legal process they must be sent to their countries while observing all their rightful rights.
Traffickers and profiteers are the only winners of this chaotic human trade which exploit the desperation of people to reach safety.
Final note
It can be said that none of these efforts are possible without the creation of legal and executive solutions to control migration and consequently investigation of countries in crisis from which refugees flee from.
We hope a comprehensive and coordinated strategy based on sharing responsibilities, solidarity and trust among European countries, be able to ina short time period make the realisation of the rights of refugees be more accessible.

Negar Paydar
Human Rights M.S.