UNHCR: EU-Turkey refugee deal partly suspended

Situation is still manageable, UNHCR director says

The head of the European chapter of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed concerns over the fact that Turkish officers had not returned to the Greek islands, a necessary provision for the implementation of the readmission program of refugees into Turkey. Vincent Cochetel pointed out that portions of the EU-Turkey refugee agreement had been made rendered essentially inactive, as Turkish officers had not returned to the Greek islands to oversee the readmission procedures to Turkey, as was provided in the agreement. ‘They have not returned. We understand that Greek authorities and Frontex have reestablished contact with their Turkish colleagues, but the dates are constantly changing and we do not know when the collaboration will restart’, he told Guardian newspaper. However, the UNHCR official added that he hoped the matter would move forward due to the commencement of talks between EU and Turkish officials at the highest levels. Cochetel expressed the view that despite the rise of refugee flows into Greece after the failed coup attempt in Turkey in mid-July the situation was still manageable. ‘A few hudred arrival a week is not a dramatic situation’, he said.