ViaEkathimerini– An administrative court on Monday issued an order to temporarily freeze a decision to grant asylum to one of eight Turkish servicemen who fled to Greece after a failed Turkish coup in 2016 with the case to be heard next month. Meanwhile, following a decision by the Greek Police’s immigration unit, the serviceman is to remain in custody until a final decision is issued on his asylum.
Via Hurriyet Daily News (Article from 27th December 17) – The European Union has finished contracting three billion Euros that will be used for Syrian refugees in Turkey, the head of the EU delegation in Ankara has announced, informing that all these funds will be distributed under 72 separate projects.
“Yesterday we signed the very last contract with the KfW which means that now the entire amount of three billion euros we offered in 2016 are now contracted, legally bound and being implemented,” Ambassador Christian Berger told reporters on Dec. 27.
Via Aljazeera – Closed borders, racism, xenophobic attacks, rejected asylum applications, poverty and lengthy waits. These experiences are what many refugees and migrants in Greece say defined 2017 for them. More than 60,000 refugees and migrants are trapped in Greece due to sealed borders across the so-called Balkan route and the March 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union, which was sculpted to stem the flow of displaced people to Europe. Continue reading Refugees in Greece reflect on another year of waiting→
Via Hürriyet (Link in Turkish) – A total of 50,000 migrants were caught while trying to cross to Greece or Bulgaria in Edirne throught the last year. Compared to the number of migrants caught in 2016 (31,000), the number of arrests increased by 19%. Among the arrested were around 15,000 Pakistanis, 12,000 Afghans and 10,000 Syrians. The number of Syrian refugees fleeing the war in their countries fell from 16,000 to 10,000 from 2016 to 2017. Further migrants from Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq and Iran had been arrested throughtout 2017. Continue reading 50.000 irregular immigrants arrest in Edirne in 2017→
Via World Food Programme – The current social cohesion perception survey takes place within the monitoring framework of the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) programme. The Turkish name for the ESSN programme is Sosyal Uyum Yardimi programi; the literal English translation is Social Cohesion Assistance programme. This Turkish name underlines the idea that providing basic needs assistance to refugees is intended to support the social cohesion of refugees within Turkish communities. Continue reading Social Cohesion in Turkey: Refugee and Host Community Online Survey→
Via Die Welt(Link in German) – A Turkish soldier who fled to Greece after the failed coup attempt in mid-2016 has received asylum. As reported on Saturday from legal circles, it is the copilot of a helicopter, which landed on 16 July 2016 with a total of eight Turkish soldiers in the northern Greek border town of Alexandropoulis. After sharp criticism from Ankara, the Greek government requested a cancellation of the asylum decision in the late evening. Continue reading Greece gives asylum to fled Turkish soldier→
ViaSon Dakika(Link in Turkish) – In Edirne, 67 migrants and asylum seekers were caught trying to cross to Greece and Bulgaria illegally. The 67 people arrested are from Syria, Palestine, Afghanistan, Morocco, India and Bangladesh.
ViaGreek Reporter– The body of a 20-25 year-old migrant, possibly African, was recovered from the waters of River Evros on the Greek-Turkish borders. The dead body was located by police officers on Thursday afternoon, inside the river. Continue reading Migrant’s Body Recovered from Evros River→
Welcome2Europeupdated their information on Turkey and added information for migrants who have been intercepted back to Turkey at sea or land and for those who have been readmitted/deported to Turkey from Greece.
For now the information are available in English. Arabic, Farsi and French will follow soon.
