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               EU, Turkey Agree on Details of Accord on Migrants

   by Lisa Bryant

   European Union leaders said Tuesday they have reached a possible deal
   with Ankara to return thousands of migrants to Turkey, and that they
   are confident a full agreement can be reached at a summit next week.

   After months of disagreements and increased bickering among the 28 EU
   nations, the leaders said they agreed to give Turkey more money to help
   refugees, swiftly ease visa requirements for Turks and speed up
   Ankara's accession talks in exchange for its help in stemming migration
   flows to Europe.

   French President Francois Hollande said "the summit has created hope
   that the refugee question can be dealt with through solidarity in
   Europe, and efficiency in cooperation with Turkey."

   All eyes are now on March 17 and the start of a two-day summit to
   finalize the commitment and agree on a deal that the leaders hope will
   allow for a return to normalcy at their borders by the end of the year.

   "We hope that we can have an efficient method as well as a
   results-oriented approach, humanitarian approach without harming any
   refugee or the rights of refugees," Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet
   Davutoglu said in advance of the reported agreement at a news
   conference at NATO headquarters.

   New demands from Turkey

   But the difficulties in reaching a deal were underscored by the talks
   themselves, which stretched hours later than initially scheduled.
   Turkey, which is sheltering an estimated 2.7 million Syrians, was
   reported to be asking for an extra $3.3 billion from the EU, roughly
   twice the amount already pledged by the 28-member bloc.

   The new set of demands also included a deal for the EU to resettle one
   Syrian refugee from Turkey in return for every Syrian refugee Turkey
   takes back from Greece. In addition, Turkish authorities wanted to
   speed up sputtering EU membership talks that have made little progress
   over the years.

   Davutoglu cast the new Turkish proposals as a way to both rescue lives,
   staunch migrant trafficking and herald "a new era in EU-Turkish
   relations."

   But deep divisions remain over finding a solution to Europe's biggest
   refugee crisis since World War II. More than 1 million migrants arrived
   on the continent last year, and roughly 160,000 have arrived so far
   this year, many crossing the Aegean to EU member Greece from Turkey.

   Beyond differences with Turkey, EU countries are split among themselves
   over how to handle the crisis, as some countries install border
   controls while others -- notably Germany and Sweden -- call for a more
   humanitarian approach. Those differences were on display during an EU
   summit last month, when leaders failed to make any headway on the
   migrant issue.

   `Collective solution' needed

   New spats have flared up, including between France and Belgium over the
   fate of asylum-seekers in Calais -- which has also been a longstanding
   bone of contention between France and Britain, the ultimate destination
   of many.

   Even some areas of agreement -- such as the voluntary resettlement of
   roughly 60,000 asylum-seekers -- have shown little progress on the
   ground.

   "There is a lack of political willingness to implement the decisions
   that have been taken," said Sergio Carrera, senior research fellow for
   the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels, who said he was
   baffled by the EU's inaction toward asylum-seekers, many of whom come
   from conflict-torn countries such as Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan.

   Arriving at the talks Monday, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras --
   whose country is on the front lines of the migrant influx -- called on
   fellow EU members to honor their resettlement agreement.

   "This is a European problem, so we have to find collective solutions to
   this problem," he said.

   Some governments, however, seem opposed to following even
   already-existing rules, according to Carrera.

   "These include basic human rights of the people arriving," he said.
   "Then they want to rewrite their rules according to their own wishes."

   But, he added, "a union cannot function like this."

   Meanwhile, thousands of migrants are now stuck in Greece since non-EU
   member Macedonia blocked their passage northward as part of a domino
   series of border controls established by Balkan countries.

   And more keep arriving -- or lose their lives trying to do so. At least
   18 asylum seekers were drowned off the Turkish coast Sunday, according
   to news reports.

   Ahead of the Brussels meeting, Human Rights Watch warned that a
   potential deal with Ankara would mean a "flawed and potentially
   dangerous policy to refugee flows" across the Aegean.

   "EU leaders are in a panic to stop refugee flows before spring," senior
   Human Rights Watch official Judith Sunderland said, "and they seem
   willing to throw human rights overboard in the process.
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   igrant-accord/3224260.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/european-union-turkey-agree-details-migrant-accord/3224260.html