UN warns Turkey refugee deal may be ‘illegal’

AN EU deal with Turkey to stem the migrant crisis was last night in chaos as the UN warned it could be illegal.

European leaders hope to finalise the plan next week for Turkey to take back those crossing the Aegean Sea, in return for giving Ankara more than £4billion in aid – including £500million from Britain.

Turkey is also demanding that its citizens – nearly 80million – are allowed to travel to continental Europe without visas.

But at the heart of the deal is a controversial refugee exchange programme that would see the EU admit one refugee directly from Turkey for each Syrian it took back from the Greek islands.

All migrants intercepted as they head to Greece on boats will be returned to Turkey. They will not be part of any exchange deal.

But EU officials have admitted there are doubts about the legality of the proposals.

Turkey is home to some 2.7million Syrian refugees and Filippo Grandi, the UN’s high commissioner for refugees, told the European Parliament i n Strasbourg yesterday he is ‘deeply concerned about any arrangement that would involve the blanket return of anyone from one country to another without spelling out the refugee protection safeguards’.

Amnesty International called the proposed mass return of migrants a ‘death blow to the right to seek asylum’, while Tory MEP and former home office minister Timothy Kirkhope said it would ‘almost certainly’ be challenged in the European courts.

European Council president Donald Tusk, who is in charge of brokering the deal, admitted at the end of Monday’s summit where the framework was agreed: ‘We have to be cautious with some details – for example, the legal aspects.’

Ukip leader Nigel Farage will say in the European Parliament today: ‘It’s outrageous that the EU has allowed itself to be bullied and blackmailed by Turkey in this way.

‘That the British taxpayer will have to shell out another £500million is unacceptable.

‘Perhaps this referendum on June 23 will become a referendum on whether we wish to be in a political union with Turkey.’

FOR proof positive of the EU’s utter incompetence to tackle the worst migration crisis since the war, look no further than the frankly surreal draft agreement thrashed out with Turkey on Monday.

Under the plan, all new migrants crossing the Aegean to Greece by irregular means will be returned to Turkey, with Brussels meeting the costs. So far, so reasonable. Indeed, the expense of sending migrants back safely would be a small price to pay for relieving the pressure of numbers on the EU and discouraging others from attempting the often fatal journey. But now come the catches – and they could hardly be more spectacular.

Extraordinarily, the plan is that in exchange for each Syrian turned back from Greece, another in Turkey will be resettled in the EU. Thus, the more Syrians who attempt the crossing, the more will be given homes in Europe.

But it gets even more bizarre. In return for Turkey’s agreement to the deal, with its highly dubious advantages, the EU has made clear it is prepared to pay President Erdogan’s corrupt government a truly vast sum of money.

More breathtaking still, Brussels has made clear that it will speed up talks on admitting Turkey to the EU, while offering visa-free travel to its citizens within as little as three months.

So let’s get this clear. In answer to the worst migration crisis since 1945, the eurocrats propose to give 77million Turks free access to the EU!

And they think this a good idea?