German Chancellor Visits Refugees Camp On Turkish Border
KABUL: (MEP) German Chancellor Angela Merkel and EU officials visited a refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border Saturday aimed at boosting a month-old migrant deal plagued by moral and legal concerns.
Merkel, EU council president Donald Tusk and European commission vice-president Frans Timmermans attended a photocall with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu at a new refugee camp near the Turkish-Syrian border before visiting a child protection centre.
“Welcome to Turkey, the world’s largest refugee hosting country,” read a huge banner hanging over the entrance to the camp, which hosts some 5,000 people, including 1,900 children, in row upon row of white and beige prefabricated houses.
Merkel said she is after creating safe zones to shelter Syrian refugees in their own country close to Turkish border, an idea strongly supported by Ankara amid UN and rights groups’ concerns.
“I have … again demanded that we have zones where the ceasefire is particularly enforced and where a significant level of security can be guaranteed,” she said in the Turkish city of Gaziantep during a joint news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and the EU officials.
The aim of the visit is to promote the six-billion-euro ($6.7 billion) deal to return migrants arriving on Greek shores to Turkey, which has come under fire from rights groups, the UN refugee agency and some EU leaders.
Turkey, with 2.7 million registered Syrian refugees, is host to the largest number of refugees in the world.
About 280,000 of them live in camps.
Praised by Merkel and EU leaders but called inhumane by critics, the deal is aimed at discouraging people smuggling via treacherous sea routes by cutting off the main migration trail from the Middle East to Europe.
“Our goal is not only to stop illegal migration, but for refugees to have more opportunities near their home,” Merkel said.
She said she had been “very impressed” with Turkish efforts at the Nizip camp.
Angela Merkel said the aim of the visit was also to see the living conditions of migrants in Turkey.
Saturday’s photocall was the latest in a series of moves aimed at encouraging Turkey to help to end the continent’s greatest wave of human movement since the second world war. More than 850,000 migrants entered Europe after leaving Turkey last year, most of them ending up in Germany, and Merkel wants Turkey’s support to bring the numbers down. In exchange, Europe has also promised looser visa restrictions for Turks travelling to Europe, and has agreed to accelerate negotiations over Turkey’s proposed accession to the EU.
