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                   EU Looks to Turkey to Ease Migrant Crisis

   by VOA News

   European Union leaders meet with their Turkish counterparts Monday to
   discuss efforts to slow the flow of migrants traveling to Europe as
   thousands of people remained stranded at the Greece-Macedonia border.

   EU diplomats said ahead of Monday's emergency meeting in Brussels that
   a draft EU agreement was set to declare the closure of the Balkan
   migration route.

   Countries from Macedonia on north have shut their borders, preventing
   people mainly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq from traveling on toward
   Germany and Scandinavian nations.

   The influx of nearly 1 million people arriving by sea in Greece since
   the beginning of 2015 has European leaders looking to persuade Turkey
   to both keep migrants from taking the dangerous route and also take
   back thousands who don't qualify for EU asylum.

   Turkey is hosting more than 2.7 million refugees from Syria alone, and,
   like European nations and other Syrian neighbors, has struggled with
   the burden of providing services.

   ''

   The EU has offered several incentives to get Turkish authorities to
   crack down on migrant movements.  Some $3.3 billion will be made
   available for Syrian refugees.  Turkey's long-coveted EU membership
   process is being sped up, as are moves to ease EU visa requirements.

   NATO announced Sunday it is deploying ships to the Aegean Sea to help
   Greece and Turkey "tackle human trafficking and the criminal networks
   that are fueling this crisis."

   Britain said it is sending several ships as part of the NATO force.

   "We've got to break the business model of the criminal smugglers and
   stop the desperate flow of people crammed into makeshift vessels from
   embarking on a fruitless and perilous journey," British Prime Minister
   David Cameron said in a statement.

   Those dangers were highlighted again Sunday with 25 migrants drowning
   while trying to reach Greece from Turkey.  The Turkish coast guard
   managed to pull 15 others to safety.

   The International Organization for Migration says more than 400 people
   have died this year trying to reach Europe by sea.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/eu-looks-to-turkey-to-ease-migrant-cr
   isis/3222611.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/eu-looks-to-turkey-to-ease-migrant-crisis/3222611.html