EU-Turkey Migrant Swap Starts

World » EU | April 4, 2016, Monday // 19:06
Bulgaria: EU-Turkey Migrant Swap Starts A Greek ferry carrying refugees back to Turkey from the Greek island of Lesvos arrives at Dikili Harbour in Izmir, Turkey, 04 April 2016. Photo EPA/BGNES

The first Syrians arrived in Germany from Turkey and the first group of migrants arrived in Turkey from Greece as a EU-Turkey deal on migration entered into force on Monday, Turkish and Greek media outlets have reported.

The deal, much criticized by human rights groups, aims to stop the influx of migrants and refugees into Europe and break the business model of people smugglers who have been trafficking refugees in a perilous journey across the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece. Under the agreement, irregular migrants will be returned to Turkey from Greece in a one-for-one exchange for refugees sheltered in Turkish camps.

About 200 migrants, mainly from Pakistan and Bangladesh, were ferried back across the Aegean Sea to Turkey on Monday morning from the Greek islands of Lesvos and Chios.

Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister Volkan Bozk?r has said on Monday that the migrants coming from Greece would be sent to the southern Turkish province of Osmaniye, according to hurriyetdailynews.com. 

An official from the German federal refugee office has told AFP that about 16 Syrian asylum seekers had arrived in Hannover from Istanbul and would be taken to a refugee shelter about 140 kilometers away. A second group of Syrians was set to arrive in Hannover later in the day.

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Tags: migrants, greece, turkey, EU, Lesvos, Chios, Aegean Sea, refugees

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