Germany accepts 143 more Syrian refugees from Turkey

Some 143 Syrians were sent to Germany on Aug. 16, the embassy said in a written statement released on Aug. 17, marking the third such charter flight arranged within the context of implementation of the agreement by the federal government of Germany.

“The sending-off of 143 Syrians to Germany shows that the refugee deal between the EU and Turkey has been working. We have been in close cooperation with our Turkish partners in the implementation phase,” a spokesperson from the German Embassy told the Hürriyet Daily News. 

EU leaders and the Ankara government agreed at a summit in March 2016 that migrants crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands who are not applying for asylum in Europe should be returned to Turkey, while Ankara agreed to tighten its borders to prevent illegal migration.

Under the terms of the deal, refugees who arrived in Greece from Turkey after March 20 are to be returned and for each of the refugees sent back across the Aegean Sea, one refugee from civil-war-torn Syria – who is currently camping in Turkey – is to be allowed to migrate into an EU nation.

“In this way, the attraction of reaching the EU through illegal means is to a great extent reduced,” the same spokesperson from the German Embassy said.