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“As long as Turkey is not honouring EU-Turkey agreement, returns should stop”, Guy Verhofstadt

Date

04 Apr 2016

Sections

Europe's East
Justice & Home Affairs

Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the European Liberals and Democrats, is very critical of the implementation the EU-Turkey deal. He believes it is unacceptable that the plan is already implemented, while the fundamental conditions of the agreement have not yet been met.

Verhofstadt: “A condition of the deal to allow the return of asylum seekers from Europe was Turkey's commitment to honour all protocols of the Geneva Convention. However, the Turkish Parliament has not yet approved the necessary legislative changes to their domestic laws. This is simply unacceptable.”

Commenting on the allegations by Amnesty International and various other NGOs that Turkey is pushing back Syrians fleeing war, he said: “These allegations are very serious and must be examined by the EU. As long as there are question marks about the safety of Turkey for refugees in need of protection, the returns should stop. We must never sell our soul to Turkey and condone human rights violations, simply because we are unable to deal with our own problems.