United Nations – The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday said it was concerned with the agreement reached between the European Union and Turkey to return all migrants seeking refuge in Europe.
A statement issued at the UN said the proposal did not sufficiently spell out refugee protection safeguards as provided under international law.
NAN reports that EU and Turkey, rising from a meeting, agreed on a provisional deal that would involve migrants crossing into Europe being sent back to Turkey.
The agency added that it believed that an asylum-seeker should only be returned to a third state if responsibility for assessing the particular asylum application in substance was assumed by the third country.
It said an asylum-seeker must be protected from refoulement and enjoy asylum in accordance with accepted international standards, with full and effective access to education, work, health care and, as necessary, social assistance.
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UNHCR said that legal safeguards would need to govern any mechanism under which responsibility would be transferred for assessing an asylum claim.
It added that pre-departure screening would also need to be in place to identify heightened risk categories that may not be appropriate for return even if the conditions were met.
It said details of all these safeguards should be clarified before the EU Council’s next meeting on March 17.
On the resettlement point, the statement welcomed any initiative that promotes regular pathways of admission for refugees in significant numbers from all neighbouring countries in the region, not just Turkey and not just Syrian refugees, to third countries.
It hoped that individuals returned to Turkey, who have specific resettlement needs, such as family reunification, would be considered for the resettlement/admission programme to the EU.
It said the high-level meeting on global responsibility-sharing through legal pathways for admission of Syrian refugees, to take place in Geneva on March 30, would be a good opportunity to put the spotlight on this important aspect of responsibility sharing.
Turkey hosts close to three million refugees following the breakout of the civil war in Syria. (NAN)
