Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants: #Dealbreaker – EU migration policy more damaging one year after EU Turkey deal
The EU-Turkey deal, which was adopted one year ago this week, aims to return all migrants and refugees who crossed the sea to the Greek islands and did not apply for asylum in Greece or whose claim was refused back to Turkey. However, since the deal was agreed, over 60,000 people have been left in deplorable conditions in Greece and thousands remain stranded in other EU member states. Record numbers of migrants are still dying at sea. More than 520 migrants have died in the Mediterranean so far in 2017.
Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) Director, Michele LeVoy, highlighted:
“The Commission and member states are understandably afraid of tough rhetoric from the far-right. But instead of defending EU values and the rights of migrants, policy makers end up catering to voters who fear migration and hold views frequently based on misconceptions. The recent EU Action Plan on Return urges member states to detain migrants for as long as possible, to lock up children and to forcibly deport more and more people. Yet evidence shows that detention and forced removal do not prevent irregular migration. Such policies are not only ineffective, they are inhumane.”
