Amnesty International Slams EU-Turkey Refugee Deal For ‘Legal And Moral Flaws’

A tentative migration plan has been reached by EU and Turkey last Monday in an effort to stem the flow of migrants flooding the EU gates. However, the deal has been met with fierce condemnation from Amnesty International saying that the draft plan to send migrants back to Turkey in exchange for increased refugee funding is not only legally problematic but also morally flawed.

Some observers believe that the draft agreement also underlies Turkey's sneaky attempt to fast tract its EU Membership application by asking not just for more funding but also a visa-free travel to Europe for its citizens.

"It's flawed, morally and legally. They are saying it does not breach EU law because Turkey is a safe country. By what stretch of the imagination is Turkey a safe country for these people? ...The refugee convention is clear, these people fleeing from war and persecution have international protection. So they have to take it case-by-case," remarked Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty as quoted by Yahoo News.

Shetty intends to convey the organization's protest against the draft agreement in a meeting with a number of EU officials. The plan would allow EU to admit one migrant from Turkey for every Syrian refugee Ankara takes from the Greek islands. Also, those who tried to enter to Europe by sea will be forcibly returned.

Apart from the Amnesty International, UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) chief Filippo Grandi also expressed his 'deep concern' of the proposed deal on refugees as he spoke before the European Parliament in a plenary session last Tuesday.

"As a first reaction I'm deeply concerned about any arrangement that would involve the blanket return of anyone from one country to another without spelling out the refugee protection safeguards under international law," Grandi said as stated in a report by Politico.

Some observers from the media who have covered stories on the refugee crisis also expressed their skepticism over the deal's viability to effectively halt the entry of migrants at Europe's doorsteps.

Highly awarded journalist and migration news correspondent for The Guardian, Patrick Kingsley, threw some insights on the proposed deal in his interview with Huffington Post-owned WorldPost.

"It's going to require trust from the EU and Turkey. I'm skeptical that both sides are going to believe that the other is really going to uphold this deal, given the lack of trust in the past...There's severe logistical challenges that have to be overcome," said Kingsley when asked about the feasibility of the migration plan as quoted in a Huffington Post article.