Fears of a deadly rush for boats as migrants are given 24 hours to reach Europe
Asylum seekers who arrive after the deadline will be sent back home in €6bn aid deal struck with Turkey
MIGRANTS have been given a 24-hour deadline to reach Europe as leaders announced that anyone landing in Greece after midnight tonight would be swiftly deported.
A deadly scramble for the last boats over the Aegean to the Greek islands began after a €6 billion (£4.6 billion) aid-for-deportations deal with Turkey was agreed at a summit of European Union leaders in Brussels.
Turkish police yesterday intercepted 3,000 migrants attempting to cross on land and sea in a major operation involving coast guard and helicopters, as Ankara at last showed a willingness to halt the human tide.
From tomorrow morning, any asylum seeker who lands on the islands including Kos, Lesbos and Chios will no longer be able to catch ferries to Athens, but will be swiftly interviewed by asylum officials or judges at new detention camps.
Greek and EU authorities will have to build a functioning asylum system within less than 48 hours. Thousands of extra staff – judges, case officers, border guards and translators – will need to be sent to the Greek islands to ensure claims can be processed.
From April 4, deportations to Turkey will begin with leaders hoping that the process will take no more than days.
Those that appeal against their removal will be brought before Greek judges in rapid-fire court hearings, under an operation costing €20 million a month and involving 4,000 staff.
David Cameron said that Britain will send further asylum experts and interpreters to join the task force. RFA Mounts Bay and Border Force cutters are already patrolling the Aegean.
“Britain will help. We have the expertise, we have skilled officials,” he said. “Today I’ve said that we stand ready to do more. What we are doing here really is trying to create a harder border between Greece and Turkey, and in the end this benefits Britain.”
Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, said: “This is a herculean task facing us. It is the largest challenge the European Commission has yet faced.”
Experts say the plan risks violating international law because Turkey is not a signatory to the Geneva Convention which guarantees basic standards for asylum seekers who are sent to oth- er countries. Turkey currently deports hopeful asylum seekers back to the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, which is forbidden in EU law.
“The deal is in accordance with the law, there can be no doubt about that,” insisted Mr Juncker.
Donald Tusk, the European Council president, said it was a “breakthrough” in the migrant crisis and said no one would be forced back into danger.
But Amnesty International said: “This is a dark day for the Refugee Convention, a dark day for Europe and a dark day for humanity.” It added that the deal was “madness” and it would only see deported migrants attempting fresh journeys to Europe.
Mr Juncker’s officials dismissed fears that today could see tragedies at sea as migrants pile into overloaded dinghies to reach Greece before the new regime kicks in, insisting that crossings have dipped over the 10 days of talks to cement the deal.
For every Syrian that is deported from Greece, one – starting with the most vulnerable – will be sent from the camps directly to EU states, excluding Britain, by a quota scheme up to a maximum of 72,000. Beyond that, the scheme will be deemed to have failed.
In exchange, Turkey will be handed €6 billion in aid, of which the UK will pay £500 million, amid fears of diplomats about it being “frittered” by the Turkish authorities.
Talks on Turkey’s entry to the EU will also be accelerated with a new chapter on financial management being opened. But Mr Cameron insisted that its membership was “not even remotely on the cards” given that every country has a veto.
There is a bias against Brexit at the heart of the BBC’s Newsnight, analysis has found. A survey by News Watch found that in 40 editions where EU campaigners were interviewed one on one, 12 were in favour of staying in the EU while six wanted to leave.
‘We are trying to create a harder border between Greece and Turkey, and in the end this benefits Britain’