The number of migrants arriving in the European Union from Turkey has increased by 22 percent in 2018, despite the deal reached by Ankara and Brussels to curtail the migration, the German Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported on Saturday, citing a confidential EU report
The number of migrants arriving in the European Union from Turkey has increased by 22 percent in 2018, despite the deal reached by Ankaraand Brussels to curtail the migration, the GermanWelt am Sonntag newspaper reported on Saturday, citing a confidential EU report.
Under 51,000 migrants arrived in the European Union, mostly in Greece, from Turkey last year, while in 2017 this number stood at 42,000 people, according to the newspaper.
The migrants mostly originated from Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, the media outlet reported.
As many as 90 percent of the migrants reached the EU states via illegal smugglers' routes, the report added, citing the figures of the European Migrant Smuggling Center (EMSC), a part of Europol, according to the newspaper.
In March 2016, the European Union and Turkey reached a migrant deal, under which they agreed that Syrian refugees arriving in Greece would be returned to Turkey if their claim for asylum was rejected, while Syrian asylum seekers in Turkey would be resettled in Europe on a one-for-one basis. Brussels, in turn, vowed to accelerate the Turkish EU accession bid, introduce a visa-free regime, as well as to provide financial aid to the country to cover the costs of migrant reception.
SOURCE: Urdu Point
