The hidden side of the European Union-Turkey agreement

Una mirada crítica desde la perspectiva del derecho internacional de los refugiados

Abstract

On these days, Europe and the world are witnessing a humanitarian crisis as drastic as that raised because of World War II. The various conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, have led to the forced displacement of millions of people. Many of them seeking asylum, aspire to join the European Union by land or sea. Against this, the European Council decided to approve on March 18 a joint statement with the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to manage with the massive inflow of migrants who arrive daily from Turkey to Greece, the easiest access. However, the EU-Turkey Agreement, which besides having a dubious legal provenance, is said to be established for the purpose of thwarting the activity model of traffickers and give migrants an alternative to risk their lives, has a hidden side ostensibly contradictory with the International Refugee law. This article, initially seeks to clarify the legal nature of the agreement in question and then attempts to research the inconsistencies among the agreed between the parties and the obligations undertaken in the field at the international level.