Rising numbers of asylum seekers disregard Europe’s strategy to deter them from making the journey
The Wall Street Journal
By NEKTARIA STAMOULI
Aug. 30, 2016 6:47 p.m. ET
4 COMMENTS
CHIOS, Greece— Yasmin Ali made the perilous crossing from Turkey to this Aegean island two weeks ago even though she knew she would be trapped here, unable to travel farther into Europe.
The 19-year-old Syrian economics student is one of a rising number of people disregarding Europe’s double strategy for deterring mass migration—a deal with Turkey to return new arrivals, and the closure of Balkan borders to the north—and stretching Greece’s capacity to absorb more asylum seekers even thinner.
“We knew about the [Turkey] deal but we decided to come anyway,” Ms. Ali said. She believes the European Union will have to let her, her mother and her sister join their male family members, who sought asylum in Germany a year ago. “They can’t send just us back since we have family in Europe.”
On average, the number of people landing on Greek islands has risen to about 100 a day in August, up from fewer than 50 a day in May and June. About 460 people landed on Greek islands on Monday, a number Greece hasn’t experienced since early April.
The traffic is still far below daily peaks of 6,800 in October last year. But the rising numbers are making Greek and EU officials worried that the fragile deal with Turkey—aimed at returning almost all who land on Greek shores—could break down.
Turkish officials, angered by what they see as a lack of European support for Turkish democracy as Ankara roots out alleged supporters of July’s failed coup, have threatened to scuttle the migration deal if the EU doesn’t grant Turkish citizens visa-free travel to the bloc by October. Turkey says it was promised the concession.
The tough talk from Turkey has alarmed Athens, which knows that any sharp increase in migration would mainly affect Greece. “We will be tested very hard if the agreement with Turkey collapses,” Greek Migration Minister Yiannis Mouzalas said this month.
Greek officials say they suspect the recent uptick in migrant arrivals partly reflects a manpower issue: Numerous Turkish military and police personnel were suspended as part of the Turkish government’s post-coup crackdown. Turkey says it is assiduously keeping up its end of its migrant deal and that its security forces’ operational ability hasn’t been hampered in the wake of the coup.
The closure of the Balkan migration route into the heart of Europe earlier this year has left nearly 60,000 refugees and other migrants trapped in Greece. Mr. Mouzalas said that if it weren’t for the deal with Turkey, which has slowed arrivals since March, 130,000 to 180,000 more people might be stuck in Greece.
Greece’s neighbor Italy also faces major strains. Crossings from North Africa have continued at a high rate, bringing some 116,000 migrants—many of them from sub-Saharan Africa—to Italy so far this year. That compares with 154,000 for all of 2015, a phenomenon overshadowed by the surge of migrants arriving in Greece via Turkey.
The closing of European borders to the migrants means that, unlike, in previous years, the vast majority are stuck in Italy, unable to reach Europe’s north as they had hoped. Italian reception centers now host 145,000 migrants, according to the interior ministry in Rome.
In smaller, poorer Greece, the numbers arriving on Aegean islands don’t need to reach 2015’s high levels to cause problems. The five islands that receive most of the newcomers—Lesbos, Leros, Chios, Kos and Samos—are already struggling.
The islands’ overcrowded reception centers already contain more than 12,000 people in total, 4,500 more than they were supposed to accommodate. “The [Turkish] deal is great for the EU but failed to consider the overflow on the Greek islands,” says Emmanouil Vournous, the mayor of Chios. “Our islands have been turned into a peculiar confinement zone for the migrants. But the islands’ citizens are also trapped in here, and the deal doesn’t take into account the financial and social implications for them.”
Chios is currently sheltering about 3,300 migrants and refugees, three times its camp’s capacity. In the camp, built around an abandoned aluminum factory, migrants live in overcrowded containers with unsanitary conditions. Six to eight people, often from two different families, typically share a room designed for four.
“We live like animals here,” says Wassim Omar, a 34-year-old English teacher from Syria, as he waits in the line for his family’s dinner of potatoes, olives and bread.
Many complain there isn’t enough food or access to doctors. Women say they and their children are afraid to leave their rooms after dark, as fights often break out among migrants of different nationalities.
Because of the overflow, many stranded on Chios are sleeping in two open camps closer to the island’s port. The razor fence around the official center also has holes in it, allowing people to walk in and out. Locals have complained of a surge in thefts and damage to their crops. To ease the situation on the islands, the Greek government will transfer a few hundred people to a new camp on the mainland, starting from Chios. Officials fear, though, that the move may encourage more people to come.
Mr. Vournous, the mayor, says he fears tensions between locals and migrants could easily escalate.
—Giovanni Legorano in Milan
contributed to this article.
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