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Roundup: Skepticism prevails on Lesvos after first deportations of refugees to Turkey

Xinhua, April 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

Two days after the first 136 deportations of refugees and migrants from the Greek island of Lesvos to Dikili, Turkey, local society here remains skeptical about the deal between EU and Turkey, especially concerning the reduction of arrivals on Greek shores.

Lesvos was the main gateway into Europe in 2015, accepting over 600,000 refugees and migrants. Despite the recent agreement aimed at stemming the flow of asylum seekers, new arrivals are still being recorded on a daily basis.

Lesvos mayor Spiros Galinos refrained from making statements until there is a clearer picture on the balance between the numbers of deportations and arrivals.

On Monday and Tuesday, Lesvos counted 187 new arrivals, while the camp of Moria already hosts 3,021 refugees and migrants, with a center capacity of 2,300 people.

After the deportation of migrants and refugees to Turkey began on Monday, most people rushed to submit asylum bids to delay their transfer back to Turkey.

A total of 2,978 of those detained in Moria had sought asylum by Wednesday, while some 150 immigrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh were protesting on Tuesday saying they would not go back to Turkey.

According to Kyriakos Mantouvalos, press representative of the Ministry of Migration Policy, in the Moria detention center, preparations are being made to accommodate the local headquarters of the asylum agency which will be staffed with an 30 extra officers of EU member countries who were expected to arrive on Wednesday.

The aim is to make sure asylum seeking procedures do not exceed 15 days for each individual, including the examination of appeal. More Greek and foreign personnel is needed.

"The procedure of the first returns rolled normally. Our first priority now is to ensure that everybody in the Moria center is informed of their rights," said deputy of the local government in Lesvos and member of the ruling SYRIZA party, Yiorgos Pallis.

Humanitarian organizations have expressed reservations over the EU-Turkey deal from the beginning and the launch of the deportations this week has not changed their opinion.

"We are not proud of the agreement between EU and Turkey despite the fact that the authorities assure us that people who are deported will have their rights to seek asylum in Turkey," Boris Cheshirkov, spokesperson for the UN refugee agency UNHCR at Lesvos, said Tuesday.

Six months after the opening of the Moria detention center, UNHCR officials are also not happy also with the conditions at the hot spot.

"The detention center is overcrowded. There are people sleeping in the open. There should be extra care provided to the most vulnerable groups, single parents, pregnant women, people who suffer from post-traumatic stress," Cheshirkov added.

Local society still seemed divided on Wednesday.

"Practices of deportation must not continue. International law must be applied. The most important thing is the respect of human rights, of democracy and the humans' values," said Periklis Antoniou, president of the Lesvos Hoteliers Association.

Meanwhile, the president of the island's travel agents' union, Yiannis Samiotis, differed: "Deportations were a positive step. But the arrivals are many compared to the deportations. If only refugees and not immigrants were coming to Lesvos, the problem would be manageable."

"The agreement must be seen as a tool for Greece and the government. The critique is right, but the European countries have closed their borders and there is no other way than the implementation of the deal," said Stratis Pothas, the president of the nongovernmental organization Coexistence and Communication in the Aegean.

Despite diverging views on the deal and the returns to Turkey, residents of Lesvos agreed that Greece should not be left to deal with the problem alone.

Greece is requesting more support from European partners. Shortly before Monday's first deportations, 127 officers of the European border control agency Frontex arrived in Lesvos in order to help Greek police. They came from France, Spain, Denmark, Lithuania and Latvia.

Last September, 162 experts from 17 European countries arrived in Lesvos to assist in the registration of refugees and migrants at the Moria camp. Endite