Greece Delays Sending Refugees Back To Turkey under EU Deal
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Greece has delayed the implementation of a historic EU-Turkey deal that aims to stem the flow of refugees fleeing war and conflict in the Middle East.
Under the agreement clinched between Brussels and Anakara on Friday, asylum seekers who reach the Greek islands will be deported back to Turkey. For every Syrian returned, the EU will resettle one from a Turkish refugee camp.
The deal aims to strangle the main route used by asylum seekers travelling to the EU and discourage people smugglers, but it has faced criticism from rights groups and thousands took to the streets of Europe in protest, AFP reported.
Greek premier Alexis Tsipras told his ministers on Saturday to be ready to begin deporting people on Sunday, as agreed, but officials have now said they need more time to prepare.
"The agreement to send back new arrivals on the islands should, according to the text, enter into force on March 20," migration policy spokesman Giorgos Kyritsis said.
"But a plan like this cannot be put in place in only 24 hours."
Around 1,500 people crossed the Aegean Sea to Greece's islands on Friday before the deal was brought in, more than double the day before and compared with just several hundred per day earlier in the week.
Hundreds of security and legal experts are set to arrive in Greece to help with implementing the deal, described as "Herculean" by the head of the EU's executive arm.