What's all this about an EU-Turkey deal?
Ever since the refugee crisis erupted last year, the European Union has struggled to come up with a comprehensive response. Late last year the EU – and Germany in particular – hit on a new solution: Turkey. Turkey is the main transit country for most of the refugees fleeing Syria and other war-torn nations for Europe. EU leaders have decided that stopping the flow of people travelling to Europe through Turkey is key to the crisis.
What would this "deal" entail?
Under a deal the Turkish government agrees to accept back into Turkey migrants who have travelled from Turkey to Greece. In exchange, EU countries accept refugees direct from Turkey under a resettlement scheme. As a quid pro quo, the EU provides an extra €3 billion on top of the €3 billion that it offered Turkey in November, agrees to re-energise negotiations with Turkey about joining the European Union, and speeds up ongoing work to allow Turkish citizens to travel to the Schengen area without the need for a visa.
What is the problem?
Although the European Union is desperate to find some form of solution to the refugee crisis, many member states are less than happy with the idea of granting visa-free access to Turkey's 78 million people. Others are concerned about Ankara's record on human rights and media freedom. Just days before an EU-Turkey summit on March 7th, for example, government authorities seized control of the country's bestselling newspaper; dozens of journalists are also in jail in Turkey. The plan itself is fraught with legal difficulties: the United Nations is among those who have warned that any "blanket return" of refugee groups would be illegal under European Union law. Human-rights groups are outraged at the concept of a "one for one" resettlement programme for refugees.
Will it work?
Setting aside the ethical considerations, the logistical and practical challenges of the deal are enormous. Much of the plan's success depends on Greece, which is already struggling to implement the EU "hot spot" systems, which are supposed to receive and register migrants arriving in the European Union. How the country will manage to receive, assess and turn back migrants to Turkey is anyone's guess. The prospect of thousands of migrants being sent back, in ships or planes, to the country they just fled also raises serious humanitarian implications, as well as painful reminders of dark episodes in Europe's past. As well, Turkey – already home to 2.7 million Syrian refugees – will struggle to cope with the logistical challenges of a resettlement plan. Meanwhile, concerns are brewing about a surge in numbers coming from Italy to Libya. Almost 2,500 migrants have been picked up by the Italian coastguard near Libya since Tuesday this week. The real fear is that, even if co-operation with Turkey works, this does nothing to address the alternative migrant routes.
Will Ireland participate in any deal?
Ireland, along with the UK, is not a member of the Schengen visa-free travel area and has opt-outs of some EU justice legislation, so technically it will not be party to the scheme. Visa-free travel, for example, will apply only to the Schengen area. But Ireland may choose to opt into any EU-Turkey resettlement plan. Unlike the UK, Ireland chose to participate in last year's relocation plan, which hoped to settle migrants who have already arrived in Greece and Italy to other EU states. Although only 10 people have so far arrived in Ireland as part of the scheme, the Government says that most of this is down to delays at the European Union end. Ireland's participation in last year's EU resettlement scheme has been more successful: since last year Ireland has accepted more than 259 people, much higher than the EU average.
