Turkey must resume accepting migrants who have been returned from Greece, the EU said on Monday, as part of the deal agreed with the bloc that Ankara stopped adhering to a year ago.
Ylva Johansson, the EU's home affairs commissioner, accepted there were shortcomings in Europe's approach to tackling irregular migration during a visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, which hosts more than 8,000 asylum seekers.
She was speaking as it was confirmed that EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel are set to visit Turkey next week to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over migration and other regional issues.
“What we have been seeing in Europe the last six years is the lack of a Europeanised migration policy, and that means that member states at our external borders have been under huge pressure,” Ms Johansson said. “And especially some islands have been under huge pressure in the absence of a European solution.”
Ms Johansson said she understood “that everybody has a limit to their patience, and I understand that this limit is close” in some areas, such as Lesbos.
Local residents held protests during her visit demonstrating against the Greek islands hosting the migrants.
A 2016 EU-Turkey deal stipulated that new arrivals must remain on the islands pending return to Turkey unless their asylum application is successful.
Greece’s Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi echoed Ms Johansson's call, urging Ankara to accept 1,450 migrants whose asylum applications were turned down.
He rejected accusations by refugee rights organisations and numerous migrants that Greece illegally deports migrants who haven't first been allowed to apply for asylum.
“We strongly deny that the Greek coastguard has been ever involved in pushbacks. Greece is fully adhering to international and European law,” Mr Mitarachi said. “But at the same time, we need to be clear that countries have borders, and there are rules and regulations how the competent authorities must exercise and execute their constitutional obligations to protect the borders of the country.”
Ms Johansson also pledged $326 million of EU money for new camps on the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros, which host nearly 14,000 migrants.
