20 March 2018

Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 1

[Note: I am re-publishing this post to reflect some additions re. the Eu-Turkey deal.]

News: Two Years of the EU-Turkey deal

From ECRE's editorial in its Weekly Bulletin:

"This month marks the two-year anniversary of the ignominious EU-Turkey deal. Although rebranded and formalised as a 'Statement,' in part to avoid the parliamentary and judicial scrutiny that an international agreement entails, at its heart there is a deal, an agreement for the mutual benefit of the two parties. The true heart of the deal for the EU, its benefit, is the blocking of departures of people from Turkey. As most of those who arrived during the crisis were refugees, this means the containment of refugees, mainly Syrian, in Turkey. This action of preventing of departures or reducing their facilitation, is not even explicitly mentioned in the Statement, it is dressed up in point 3, that Turkey will 'take any necessary measure to prevent new sea or land routes for illegal migration opening…'. But there is no doubt that this is what is important to policy-makers who claim that the deal is a success because the measure of success is exactly this: people were prevented from leaving (and thus the EU was saved)." Read the rest here.

Other commentary:

"The EU-Turkey Refugee Agreement: A Review," Deutsche Welle, 18 March 2018 [text]

EU-Turkey Statement: Two Years on (European Commission, March 2018) [text]

*Expert Views: The E.U.-Turkey Deal After Two Years (Refugees Deeply, March 2018) [text]

Refugees Out of Sight, Out of Mind Two Years on from EU-Turkey Deal (The Conversation, March 2018) [text]

The Stories of Asylum Seekers Trapped in Greece: On EU-Turkey Deal Anniversary, Greece Should End Containment Policy (Human Rights Watch, March 2018) [text]
- Follow link to access special interactive feature. See also related Q&A.

*Turkey-Style Deals Will Not Solve the Next EU Migration Crisis (Migration Policy Institute, March 2018 [text]

*Two Years after the EU-Turkey Deal: The Key Questions (Terre des Hommes, March 2018) [text]

Two Years into the EU-Turkey ‘Deal’: Taking Stock (Jacques Delors Institut – Berlin, March 2018) [text]

Two Years on, EU-Turkey Deal Creates Misery and Desperation for Those Stuck on Greek Islands (MSF, March 2018) [text via ReliefWeb]

Other publications:

"Austria Plans to Put Immigration and Borders at Heart of EU Presidency," Reuters, 9 March 2018 [text]
- Note: Austria assumes the EU Presidency in July 2018.

I Get You: Promoting Best Practices to Prevent Racism and Xenophobia towards Forced Migrants through Community Building (JRS Europe, Dec. 2017) [text]

Progress Report on the Implementation of the European Agenda on Migration (European Commission, March 2018) [text]
- See also related press release, which includes an overview and links to a number of relevant annexes and factsheets.

Towards Safety and Opportunity: Regular Pathways to Europe for Refugees and Other Migrants in the Middle East, MMP Briefing Paper, no. 8 (Mixed Migration Platform, Nov. 2017) [text]

*UPDATED

Related posts:
- Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 1 (9 March 2018)
- Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 2 (9 March 2018)

Tagged Publications. 

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