Only in Turkish: T24 – The “Göçmen Dayanışma Mutfağı” (Migrant Solidarity Kitchen) raised awareness regarding the forced deportation of refugees from their homes to the camps in Osmaniye/Southern Turkey by the turkish police. In their written call, the Solidarity Kitchen emphasizes that during the early morning operations on the 10th of May against the Syrian Refugees, 4 families, including small children, were forced into transporters. They furthermore connect the operation to the UNOs “World Humanitarian Summit”. In addition the destinated camps are not safe for women and children.
Erdoğan approves law on Turkey-EU readmission deal
Hurriyet Daily News – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has approved a law on an agreement between Ankara and Brussels on the readmission of people residing in the EU without authorization. Erdoğan’s approval of the law was announced by his press office late on May 18, with a note that it was sent to the Prime Ministry in order to be published in the Official Gazette, thus to enter into force. As it is not published on national holidays, the Official Gazette was not published on May 19, the Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day.
‘Cleansing’ of refugees on Istanbul’s streets before the World Humanitarian Summit
Only in Turkish: Ilerihaber – Before the World Humanitarian Summit, organized by the UNO, dating from 23-24 of Mai 2016 in Istanbul, turkish authorities began a cleansing of Refugees in the streets of the turkish metropole, although the summits purpose was to raise public awareness for the refugees problems.
European Commission letter to Greek asylum authorities: all is well in Turkey
Statewatch – A letter from the European Commission to the Greek authorities setting out why Turkey should be considered a safe third country has been condemned by a Greek human rights group as an attempt “to establish standardized reasoning for systematically denying the asylum claims of Syrian and non-Syrian nationals as inadmissible in Greece.”
Report from GUE/NGL Delegation to Turkey, May 2-4, 2016
GUE/NGL – “What Merkel, Tusk and Timmermans should have seen during their visit to Turkey” – report by a delegation of three Members of the European Parliament who visited Turkey on May 2-4, to assess the situation of refugees after the EU-Turkey deal. The delegation included Cornelia Ernst, Marina Albiol and Josu Juaristi, all members of the GUE/NGL Group in the EP.
Hunt for Syrians in the heart of Istanbul
Only in Turkish: Cumhuriyet – Istanbul police teams started operations at the early morning on the 11th of May in the Beyoglu district at address where Syrian Refugees are living. Following the raids of Syrian were sent to refugee camps located in Osmaniye province in southern Turkey.
EP stops work on Turkey visa waiver
EU-observer – MEPs have stopped work on plans to give Turks visa-free access to the EU’s Schengen zone, putting a wider migrant deal in doubt. Group leaders in the European Parliament’s “conference of presidents” quietly suspended work on the file last Wednesday. Some of the lead MEPs on the dossier, the group coordinators in the civil liberties committee (LIBE), found out about the suspension on Monday (9 May).
Judith Sargentini, a Dutch Green MEP, said EU parliament chief Martin Schulz suspended it because Turkey had not yet met all EU visa-free criteria.
Non-Syrians denied asylum claims under EU-Turkey deal
The Guardian – Hundreds of non-Syrian asylum seekers deported under the EU-Turkey migration deal were not allowed to claim asylum in either Greece or Turkey, a group of European politicians has claimed. After interviewing 40 of the deportees, the three MEPs have concluded that, despite EU promises, the deal with Turkey is not being enacted according to international law.
Border Guards Kill and Injure Asylum Seekers and Border Lock-Down Puts Syrian Lives at Risk
Human Rights Watch – Turkish border guards are shooting and beating Syrian asylum seekers trying to reach Turkey, resulting in deaths and serious injuries, Human Rights Watch said today. The Turkish authorities should stop pushing Syrian asylum seekers back at the border and should investigate all use of excessive force by border guards.
Turkey readmitted 386 irregular migrants since March 20
Hurriyet Daily News – “Within the framework of the agreement with the EU, 386 irregular migrants have been readmitted to Turkey from five Greek islands. Of those, 14 of them were Syrians and a vast majority was other countries’ citizens,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç told reporters at a press conference on May 9. “Simultaneously with the readmission, the resettlement of Syrians has also started. Within this framework, 125 Syrians have been sent to Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and Lithuania,” Bilgiç added.