Arrivals and Departures:
Turkish Minister of EU Affairs, Volkan Bozkir, stated last week that under any new agreement with the EU, authorities will readmit refugees and migrants from Greece who will arrive following the agreement entering into force. This would not apply to people who have already reached the Greek islands. Bozkir added that he estimates the number of people to be readmitted will reach thousands or tens of thousands. In accordance with a bilateral agreement dating back to 2002 between Greece and Turkey, 381 people were returned to Turkey from Greece this month for illegally entry. Furthermore, Turkish officials will be posted to the Greek islands to oversee the readmission of people who are found not to be eligible for international protection.
As Western Balkan countries affected by the refugee and migrant crisis announced further border enforcement measures, neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Albania and Italy held talks towards taking similar action. After a visit to Albania, Italy’s Secretary of State for European Affairs, said Italy was working with Albania to further secure borders.
Meanwhile, earlier this week, 45 Syrians were arrested in Egypt in an attempt to enter the country from Sudan.
Condition of People:
Prior to an agreement to be reached in Brussels today, the conditions of refugees and migrants awaiting a solution remains alarming. Tens of thousands of people remain in Greece and Western Balkan countries after several irregular transits were halted. Greek authorities mention no one had entered the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia since last week. Pending resolve, at least 12,000 people are stranded in wet, squalid conditions at Eidomeni site on the Greek side of the border as well as in other locations throughout Greece.
People have increasingly shown interest in applying for asylum, family reunification and relocation opportunities. 1,760 relocation applications were registered by the Greek Asylum Service between 21 October 2015 and 15 March 2016, and interest in relocation continues to rise. According to the Greek Asylum Service, asylum applications have also increased by 33.6 % in the first two months of 2016 (2,641 applications in January-February 2016 compared to a monthly average of 1,100 applications in 2015).
The European Commission (EC) requested member states to increase their relocation pledges and shorten the time needed to process applications, whilst also calling on Italy and Greece to enhance their efforts to ensure speedy and efficient functioning of the scheme. With regards to resettlement, the EC recommended further enhanced efforts to ensure the orderly and safe admission of people in need of international protection to Europe.
A total of 119,900 people formally applied for asylum in Germany within the first two months of the year. In Serbia, 430 people expressed their intention to apply for asylum so far this month and in Slovenia, while 348 people applied for asylum and 276 people benefit from international protection.