The EU border agreement is in peril-and human lives with it
At the end of February, Recepp Tayip Erdoğan, President of Turkey, declared that his administration would discontinue its side of a refugee deal signed with the European Union in 2016, by opening its border to allow for the passage of refugees from Syria to continue through to EU-member states.
Erdoğan’s policy was formed in the midst of escalating violence in the province of Idlib in Syria – the final rebel stronghold – which created risk of a significant increase in the influx of refugees into Turkey. A humanitarian crisis unfolded thereafter on the borders between Turkey and its EU neighbours, particularly Greece. Around 35,000 people initially gathered around the border with Greece, where they were reportedly subjected to teargas and plastic bullets by the Greek police, although the Greek government denies these claims. In contrast to the previous generosity of many
Greeks during the 2015 refugee crisis, locals frustrated by lingering problems, turned hostile and vigilante groups attempted to intimidate the refugees and migrants. The new centre-right Greek
government has temporarily suspended accepting asylum applications in a measure to try and control the situation.
Greece has accused Turkey of orchestrating an ‘invasion’ and the, already tenuous, relationship between the neighbouring countries is becoming increasingly strained. ‘Turkey has become an official trafficker of migrants to the European Union, and Greece does not accept this situation,’ said Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece. In response, EU officials have stood largely in solidarity with Greece, praising the country for acting as a ‘shield’ to the EU and promising extra funding, although they have also emphasised that Greece must uphold the human right to asylum. According
to Turkish Interior Minister, Süleyman Soylu, around 150,600 migrants and refugees have succeeded in entering Greece since February 28th. Now, in the context of the global pandemic, COVID-19, Greece looks very unlikely to allow the refugees who remain camped out at the border to enter and so, after a month, many migrants and refugees are returning to migration authorities in Turkey for protection throughout the quarantine period. Resolution of the border crisis has therefore effectively been stalled by the global health crisis, however analysis of events at the border remains
important.
The aforementioned deal signed by the EU and Turkey in 2016, in simple terms, prescribed that Turkey would block refugees from entering EU states and host them in exchange for funds from the EU. One may question, how can the EU get away with taking such little responsibility? Well, at present, there is an international legal responsibility for states not to deport refugees to their
country of origin upon their arrival at national borders (this is referred to as the principle of non-refoulement, which is enshrined in Article 33 of the Refugee Convention). However, there is no legal
framework to prevent states from agreeing ways of keeping refugees out of their territory. Just as refugees are kept in ‘legal no man’s lands’ in the form of offshore detention centres on Manus Island, by Australia, or kept in Mexico by the USA, the EU’s agreement with Turkey benefits the EU by relieving pressure on its member states. In the UK, media and political rhetoric often gives the impression that it takes responsibility for an overwhelming number of refugees, when in fact its contribution pales into insignificance compared to other countries. According to the United Nations
refugee agency, Turkey hosts the largest number of refugees worldwide: close to 4.1 million, with the vast majority being Syrians, due to their geographical proximity.
The 2016 deal, despite being widely criticised by rights groups, successfully bought the EU time to address and prepare for the consequences of mass migration from the Middle East. However, since
2015, during which over a million people, in desperation, undertook perilous journeys to the EU, little has changed. Nations remain divided in their ideas about how to deal with asylum seekers, the bloc’s asylum system is still unreformed and the EU has continued to give little attention to warning signs of further turbulence. Although the number of people arriving on Greek islands from Turkey
dramatically dropped in the wake of the deal, they did begin creeping up again in 2019, which should have been a warning sign of future issues to be addressed. Furthermore, Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, asserted that Europe had been in ‘full spectator mode, incredibly passive’ throughout the crisis in Idlib, Syria, after which increased refugee
flows were predictable. Turkey’s declarations and actions highlight the EU’s failure to progress and agree on common migration policy. Moreover, it has been reported that Turkey
had been drawing progressively nearer to breaking point and had asked the EU for help. Government officials, including the President, assert that the EU has not adequately upheld its end of the 2016 deal. For example, they point out that, while the EU has kept to its promise of allocating six billion euros for the management of Syrian refugees in Turkey, the true cost of helping the 3.6
million refugees living there has been closer to 30 billion dollars. Turkey clearly attributes all blame for the collapse of the 2016 deal to the negligence of the EU.
EU officials, on the other hand, inevitably point the finger back at Turkey, asserting that Erdoğan’s decisions are self-interested and immoral. They accuse him of using refugees to blackmail the EU into giving him what he wants. There have been previous instances where Turkey certainly has been quick to remind its neighbours of the power it wields through the transactional refugee deal. When the EU has tried to censure Turkey over issues such as human rights, or criticise its foreign policy decisions, Turkey has previously threatened to withdraw from the 2016 deal. In the case of the current border crisis, Mistotakis, Greek Prime Minister, has accused Ankara of attempting to ‘promote its geopolitical agenda and divert attention from the situation in Syria.’ Similarly, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian accused Turkey of using the refugees to ‘blackmail’ Europe. Johannes Hahn, the EU budget commissioner suggested Erdoğan was ‘using the crisis to distract from his weakened position at home,’ a weakened position that some attribute to erupting racism and xenophobia amongst the Turkish public.
Regardless of which accusation holds most truth, it is certain that the use of vulnerable peoples as pawns in any sort of political conflict is reprehensible. Well aware of the inevitably hostile
response of Greece, Erdoğan opened the floodgates, sending hopeful refugees to a war-like situation at the Greek border in order to send a strong message to the EU. Erdoğan has subsequently condemned Greek security forces for ‘behaving like Nazi’s’ in their use of violence, although it should have been predictable that a significant border security threat to Greece would result in some violence. Erdoğan’s frustration with the EU is not necessarily invalid but his response, which exploits the vulnerable situations of refugees, is wrong. Frustration should be expressed through dialogue rather than ‘on the back of refugees,’ as asserted by Angela Merkel.
The current border and humanitarian crisis between the EU and Turkey is symptomatic of a much broader issue in the management of global refugees and the sharing of responsibility. Turkey should
be credited for its significant role in refugee-hosting, which vastly exceeds that of EU-member states. However, to use vulnerable refugees as a political tool, as Turkey has arguably done, is morally wrong. Syrian refugees, already victims of war, are now victim to a war of words between Turkey and the European Union. The EU should also take responsibility for the magnitude of the
crisis being partly a result of their inaction in reforming common refugee policy, and lack of attention to Turkey’s situation.
Banner image courtesy of KLMircea via Wikimedia, ©2008, some rights reserved.
