Between 10,000 and 15,000 refugees and migrants have arrived the border area between Turkey and mainland Greece, according to the UN. Greek authorities have said they will suspend the registration and processing of asylum claims for a month and they will return people to their country of origin where possible.
The reaction from Greece must be seen in light of the current lack of responsibility sharing within Europe, but the EU must now ensure that people turning up at its outer borders are not denied their rights.
Background
Turkey is no longer preventing refugees and migrants from crossing the borders into Greece and Bulgaria. Turkish police, coastguards and border security officials have been ordered to stand down on refugees' land and sea crossings towards Europe in anticipation of the imminent arrival of refugees from Idlib, according to Reuters. At the beginning of March thousands of refugees and migrants were trying to cross into mainland Greece, and there has been an increase in the number of people arriving in the Greek islands by boat.
Increase in people arriving in the islands
Several hundred people have arrived in the islands during recent days, a substantial increase from the first two months of the year. The increase comes on top of an already high number of asylum seekers in Greece. The country's reception system is stretched beyond its limits – leaving refugees and migrants in deplorable conditions in the Greek islands. Europe needs to better prepare for a potential further increase in the numbers.
Deplorable conditions
“The conditions that we have in the camps now are at the same level as at the very beginning of the crisis four years ago. At that time, I was astonished that such conditions could occur in Europe, in a functioning democracy like Greece, with no conflict or natural disasters preceding the crisis,” says NORCAP expert Patric Mansour.
NORCAP is a part of the Norwegian Refugee Council, and Patric Mansour has been deployed to Lesvos since the start of refugee crisis in August 2015. He has seen the camp change, people come and go, and the rising desperation and frustration among camp inhabitants, host communities and Greek authorities.
Europe should support Greece
Europe needs to better share the responsibility for asylum seekers arriving to the continent. The capacity in Greece is overstretched, the conditions in the camps precarious, and other countries should urgently step up their support by relocating some refugees from Greece. Such relocations are needed independently of whether we witness a continued increase in the arrivals to Greece or not, but the need will of course be even more urgent if numbers increase.
Turkey must open its border with Syria
Turkey has generously hosted millions of refugees from Syria over the years. But the fighting in Idlib is now squeezing people further and further north and at the moment they have nowhere else to go. We are calling on Turkey to let these terrified families seek safety across its borders. Many of the families have been displaced multiple times in Syria and now have nowhere left to run. At the same time, Europe and the international community need to step up and provide Turkey with the necessary support. Everyone’s first objective now must be to ensure that these people fleeing for safety receive the necessary protection in line with the Refugee Convention.
