Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 April 2016
382. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the safeguards being taken to ensure that refugees who are returned to Turkey under the European Union-Turkey migration deal have their human rights upheld; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7539/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraTurkey has a key role to play in resolving the Migration crisis, as most of the migrants and refugees who have entered the EU since early 2015 have travelled via Turkey. The EU and Turkey have engaged deeply on developing joint approaches and the EU’s engagement with Turkey was the focus of the most recent European Council on 17 and 18 March 2016.
The core intention of the EU-Turkey agreement which emerged from the Council is to break the business model of the people smugglers who are profiting from the suffering of the vulnerable. Critically, it should stop people getting into unsafe boats and risking their lives.
The agreement complies with international law on the protection of human rights. All migrants will be protected in accordance with the relevant international standards and in respect of the principle of non-refoulement. This includes a guarantee that any migrants/refugees arriving in the Greek islands who wish to claim asylum will have their applications processed individually by the Greek authorities in accordance with the Asylum Procedures Directive, in cooperation with UNHCR.
The need to comply with international law was at the heart of the March European Council discussions. The legal advice of the EU institutions was that there is such compliance.
