Say No To A Bad Deal With Turkey-Human Rigths Watch

https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/03/17/say-no-bad-deal-turkey

Let’s not confuse desperation for legality when it comes to Europe’s proposed refugee deal with Turkey. No one should be under any illusion - the very principle of international protection for those fleeing war and persecution is at stake.

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Refugees and migrants line up to receive aid in a makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border, near the Greek village of Idomeni March 4, 2016.

© 2016 Reuters

Every government in Europe will have to declare its hand this week: does it uphold the right to seek asylum, or does it subordinate that right to horse trading with a country that has an inadequate record of respecting it.
This new proposal is only the latest in a dangerous trend.  Over the past few months, various European governments have imposed discriminatory border closures and unlawful caps on asylum applications. The result is a deepening humanitarian disaster for thousands of refugees trapped in Greece, a surge in alarmist, vitriolic rhetoric stigmatizing asylum seekers and migrants.
EU leaders hit a new low last week by proposing that Turkey accept fast-track mass returns of boat migrants from Greece and a plan to resettle one Syrian refugee from Turkey for each irregularly arriving Syrian returned from Greece in exchange for €6 billion, promises of visa-free travel for Turkish nationals, and revival of EU accession talks.