Migrant readmission by Turkey a ‘benchmark’ in visa liberalisation roadmap, Bertaud says




The bilateral agreement between Greece and Turkey for the readmission of migrants must continue to be implemented, European Commission spokesperson Natasha Bertaud said on Friday, during the regular press briefing.

“The Commission’s position is that it should be continuously implemented in order to meet all remaining benchmarks under the visa liberalisation roadmap with Turkey. The return of irregular migrants, including those irregularly crossing the Greek-Turkish land border, is also an important element in the management of irregular migration flows and preventing new irregular migration routes from forming,” Bertaud said.

She had been asked to respond to comments made by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu that Turkey was freezing a migrant readmission protocol with Greece.
“We take note of the comments and we are in touch with both the Greek and the Turkish authorities to inquire further,” Bertaud said, noting that European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos “has had several and at varying level contacts with both the Greek and Turkish authorities.”

She also clarified that the decision concerned a bilateral agreement between Greece and Turkey, not the EU-Turkey Statement.

“The EU-Turkey Statement concerns returns of irregular migrants that have arrived in the islands; this continues to be implemented by all sides and we remain firmly committed to the implementation of this EU-Turkey Statement,” she said.

The bilateral protocol Cavusoglu had referred to affected returns of irregular migrants from mainland Greece, Bertaud noted, which could also take place under the EU-Turkey readmission agreement.
“Our position on the bilateral protocol as it stands is that it should continue to be implemented, bearing in mind that this is one of the benchmarks on the visa liberalisation roadmap,” she added, while admitting that the “on-the-ground implications” of the freeze were likely to be low, given that there had been only 25 returns under the bilateral protocol in 2017 and 2018 combined.

“However, the continuous implementation of the bilateral protocol is an element that is referenced both in the EU-Turkey Readmission Agreement and the visa liberalations roadmap that we have with Turkey,” she added.

According to Commission figures, a total of 600 irregular migrants have been returned to Turkey under the bilateral protocol since March 21, 2016 and a further 1,624 under the EU-Turkey Readmission Agreement.

Source: ANA-MPA

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