Several media continue to comment on the refugee crisis in Europe. Most media express concern that the EU-Turkey deal and the closing of the Balkan route will open the doors to new routes for refugees. According to Rai Due, the number of migrants rescued off the Italian coast increased by 28% during the first quarter of 2016. La Repubblica writes that up to 270,000 migrants could arrive on Italy’s coast this year. In an interview with la Stampa, Carlotta Sami, spokesperson of the UNHCR, warns of a “worrying” new wave of migrants arriving in Italy from Libya and North Africa.
On the contrary, European Commission Spokesperson Natasha Bertaud said a radical reduction of refugee flows from Turkey has been recorded in recent days, and saying this development was “encouraging.” Some media continue to raise doubts about the EU-Turkey agreement. A columnist writing in Kleine Zeitung claims that it will take time for the EU to implement the deal and for hotspots to serve their purpose. Conflicts are likely to arise, as refugees have to be detained until their asylum applications have been processed, he says.
An op-ed in Salzburger Nachrichten comments that the migration issue can’t be solved with local agreements and questionable arrangements. In a debate on France Inter, Political Scientist Gilles Kepel considers that “the European authorities give the impression of having lost their footing.” In his column in SME daily, Tom Nicholson writes that it seems that the “cynical” agreement has reduced the number of migrants by 98%. According to Sigmalive.com a European Commission Spokesperson yesterday stated that the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) is in close cooperation with Greek authorities in order to safeguard the timely dispatch of the needed experts in Greece. The spokesperson further stated that the return to Turkey of refugees whose asylum applications have been rejected isexpected to begin on 4 April, and for this reason Turkish officials will arrive in Greece and Greek officials in Turkey.
Several Greek media report that yesterday, Hundreds of refugees and migrants marched from Piraeus to Omonoia, protesting against the “shameful EU-Turkey agreement” – according to Kathimerini – and the closing of EU borders. Some of the protestors burned an EU flag outside the offices of the EC’s Representation in Greece. Meanwhile, the International New York Times, Les Echos and Svenska Dagbladet report that Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, has criticised the response to the Syrian refugee crisis, accusing countries of using the crisis to demonise asylum seekers. Speaking at a ministerial conference in Geneva, Ban Ki-moon called for greater solidarity and urged countries to accept around half a million Syrian refugees. “We are faced with the largest refugee crisis in modern times, and there needs to be a dramatic increase in global solidarity,” he said, as quoted by Svenska Dagbladet.
El Pais reports that the UN yesterday drew attention to the fact that there is massive unevenness in the sheltering of refugees by the international community. Filippo Grandi, the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees, urged the West to meet its pledge of resettling 10% of those fleeing war and waiting in Syria’s neighbouring countries. If Europe were to host the same percentage of refugees as Lebanon, it would have to open its doors to 100 million people. All Greek media report that EU Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, who also attended the UN conference, said that Europe is ready to take its share of responsibility, stating that ‘”we have come a long way in a year,” referring to the first European readmissions programme in the EU launched by the EU28 member states together with Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Lichtenstein, to assist 22,504 people in need of international protection.
Dimitris Avramopoulos pointed out that in 2015 more than 800,000 refugee arrivals were recorded in the EU and that the main aim of the EU-Turkey Action Plan was to end the smugglers’ practices that exploit refugees and migrants, and instead open up legal routes for Syrian refugees to reach Europe safely through Turkey. Several media also focus on the solutions discussed and implemented in their own country.
©europeanunion2016
