EU wants ‘stepped up’ action on migrants

New plan promises greater resettlement effort on asylum seekers in Turkey.

The European Union is promising to bolster efforts with Turkey to deal with the migration crisis, including plans to fund additional refugee reception centers and push harder for a “structured EU-wide approach to resettlement” of asylum seekers.

Those proposals are among several measures in a new action plan unveiled Tuesday by the European Commission. They come one day after top EU officials met in Brussels with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and agreed to cooperate more closely on stemming the flow of migrants from Syria to Europe.

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“The EU stands ready to further step up help for Turkey to improve reception facilities for refugees and improve their well-being,” said Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, in an address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. “In the refugee crisis, Turkey and the EU walk together and work together.”

Turkey is now hosting about 2.2 million Syrian refugees, almost a half of those who have fled the civil war taking place in the country for almost four years. Turkey has recently become the main gateway for refugees trying to make their way to Europe, overtaking Libya as the main transit country.

EU leaders last month committed to spending up to €1 billion in 2015-2016 to support Turkey in coping with the influx of Syrian and Iraqi refugees. On top of that, under the plan unveiled Tuesday, the Commission said Turkey could also benefit from money drawn a special fund, the EU Regional Fund.

In addition to the money offered as an incentive for action on migration, the Commission hinted that Turkey’s implementation of the action plan would help speed up the country’s fulfillment of requirements for visa liberalization, making it easier for Turks to travel to the EU.

The plan includes two main parts: one to support refugees currently in Turkey and a second to help prevent irregular migration flows into the EU. Its implementation is set to start immediately, overseen by a new high-level group on migration jointly steered by the European Commission and the Turkish government.

The document also promises new resettlement plans to provide refugees with legal ways to come into Europe, though it offers no details on how that will happen. Under the plan, the Commission said it would “support existing Member State and EU resettlement schemes and programs,” and that “work on a structured EU-wide approach to resettlement shall be stepped-up.”

For its part, Turkey will have to ensure that migrants are registered and provided with appropriate documents. The plan also includes the adoption of measures enabling refugees to have access, for the duration of their stay in Turkey, to the labor market and public services including education for pupils and health services.

EU funding can be used to support such measures, the document states. The money will also be used to co-fund the construction of six new refugee reception centers.

The second part of the plan, designed to prevent irregular migration, includes several measures to beef up the EU’s capacity to work with Turkey to combat smuggling networks. These include deployment of a liaison officer to Turkey from Frontex, the EU border control agency; improved cooperation with the officers already deployed by Turkey in the EU; and support to Turkey for strengthening its Coast Guard.

According to the plan, Turkey will increase its cooperation with the Greek Coast Guard, and will also improve re-admittance of irregular migrants who are not in need of international protection and were intercepted by Romanian, Greek or Bulgarian authorities coming from the Turkish territory.

“Additional points for handing over of irregular migrants intercepted in the Aegean Sea should be opened,” the plan states.

The plan also includes measures to increase protection of the Greek border, another crossing point for refugees into the EU, with Turkey intending to step up cooperation with Bulgarian and Greek authorities.