HarekAct offers a topical and chronological collection of news on the EU-Turkish border regime under this section. We link to external newspapers and websites and do not hold the copyright.
Views and opinions expressed in the articles published on HarekAct are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of all editorial board members.
Via Tagesspiegel (from 12.09; Link in German) – While the German government criticizes the deteriorating human rights situation in Turkey and voiced travel warnings for Turkey for German nationals, the asylum office BAMF rejects most of asylum claims from Turkish nationals. From the 8.547 asylum claims coming from Turkish nationals taken this year, 5.040 asylum seekers were rejected as unfounded.
So, according to the German government, Turkey is not safe for German nationals, but they don’t seem to have any problems with deporting Turks to that same country and human rights conditions: A total of 26 Turks were deported to Turkey this year.
Via AP News – More than 20 migrants or refugees were rescued and one child died Thursday on a Greek island after the boat they set sail in overnight from the nearby Turkish coast either capsized or sank, Greek authorities said.
A vessel from the European border agency Frontex patrolling the area initially picked up six people — one man, two women and three children — it spotted in the sea off the small southeastern island of Kastellorizo in the early hours of Thursday, the Greek coast guard said. The six were transported to land immediately because one of the children, a 9-year-old girl, needed medical attention, but she later died, the coast guard said. Another four of the survivors were hospitalized. Continue reading Greece: 25 migrants rescued, 1 child dies in boat accident→
Via PRI– During World War II, Romania’s Jewish refugees, fleeing extermination in Europe, would pay to cram aboard flimsy boats crossing the Black Sea to the Middle East. In 2017, Romania’s shores have been the recipient of migrant boats traveling the journey in reverse, as a rarely-used smuggler’s passage is reactivated.
The recent boat arrivals have prompted speculation that the Black Sea is opening up as a perilous new corridor into Europe, though such observations may be premature.
Via Hurriyet Daily News* – The construction of a concrete barrier along hundreds of kilometers of Turkey’s border with Syria is expected to be completed by the end of September, a Turkish official told state-run Anadolu Agency on Sept. 22.
State-run Anadolu Ajensi reports that Turkey will grand citizenship to around 50,000 Syrians living in Turkey according to an Interior Ministry official:
Via Hurriyet Daily News – At least 19 people were killed after a fishing boat carrying migrants sank off the northwestern Turkish coast of Kocaeli in the Black Sea early on Sept. 22. An unborn baby is reportedly among those killed migrants in the accident.
via Yahoo – A senior Syrian opposition activist and her journalist daughter have been found dead at their apartment in Istanbul, the Dogan news agency reported on Friday.
Friends raised the alarm after being unable to reach Aroubeh Barakat and her daughter Halla Barakat by telephone, the news agency said. Turkish police then arrived at their apartment in the Uskudar district on the Asian side of Istanbul and found both women dead. Unconfirmed reports said that their throats had been cut. Continue reading Syria opposition activist, daughter found dead in Istanbul: report→
Via Amnesty International – Two Syrian refugees are at risk of being forcibly returned to Turkey after Greece’s highest administrative court rejected their final appeals against earlier rulings declaring their asylum claims inadmissible. This could set a dangerous precedent for future returns of asylum-seekers under the EU-Turkey deal, Amnesty International said.
Today’s ruling sets an ominous precedent for many other asylum-seekers who have fled conflict and persecution and are currently stranded on the Greek islands
Via Yahoo – Greece’s top administrative court on Friday approved the forced deportation of two Syrian refugees, setting a precedent for hundreds of similar cases, a justice source said. Over 750 Syrian exiles are likely to be affected by the ruling by the Greek council of state, a source with knowledge of the case told AFP.
