Refugee crisis: EU deal with ‘sultan Erdogan’ slammed by
MEPS
By Josh Lowe
By Josh Lowe
The European Union was, on Wednesday, accused of handing the
“keys to the gates of Europe” to “Sultan Erdogan” as MEPs questioned Turkey’s
human rights record. At a European parliament debate on Wednesday over an outline
agreement that would see migrants and refugees returned from Europe to Turkey,
leaders of some of the parliament’s largest political groups spoke out in
criticism.
“I don’t deny that we need a practical and technical
arrangement with Turkey,” said Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the centrist ALDE
grouping which includes Britain’s Liberal Democrats, “[but] it is a deal...in
which we outsource our problems.
“We are giving in
fact entrance keys, the keys to the gates of Europe, in the hands of Turkey,
the successors of the Ottoman empire, to [Turkish President] Erdogan, I should
even say maybe to Sultan Erdogan,” he said.
Under the terms of the proposed agreement, Turkey would take
on some responsibility for processing refugees and determining which ones are
fit to enter Europe.
“Turkey is a very poor member of the Geneva convention. They
have not ratified a number of protocols,” Verhofstadt added.
Syed Kamall, the leader of the right-wing European
Conservatives and Reformists group which includes the British Conservative
Party, asked “even in desperate times should we just tear up our rules and
international conventions?”
“Turkey itself is testing the EU,” he continued, adding that
“those of us who believe in freedom of the press should be concerned” about the
Turkish government’s recent decision to impose a new editor on the formerly
critical newspaper Zaman.
The UN has said that the deal with Turkey—set to be
finalized later this month— may be illegal . UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Filippo Grandi reiterated the organization’s concerns in a speech at the
European Parliament on Tuesday.
"I am deeply concerned about any arrangement that would
involve the blanket return of anyone from one country to another without
spelling out the refugee protection safeguards under international law,"
he said.
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