Members of the European Parliament ask European Union to verify whether Turkey is shooting Syrians who try to cross border
Published: 1 Jul 2016
Press release issued by the European Parliament on 21 June 2016.
The European Union (EU) should check the veracity of reports that Turkish border guards are shooting and killing Syrians who are trying to flee their country, said the Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament on Tuesday 21 June. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) also asked the European Commission to assess whether the EU-Turkey deal to manage migration and refugee flows can continue to apply in these circumstances.
Most MEPs described the reports coming from the Syria-Turkey border as “extremely worrying” and agreed that if they proved true, then there should be “consequences.” While acknowledging that the number of migrant arrivals has fallen substantially following the deal with Ankara, they underlined that the refugee relocation scheme is not working and that the resettlement programme is progressing very slowly. They also voiced concerns about the pressure on the Greek appeals committees reviewing inadmissibility decisions on asylum claims.