Greece wants EU pressure on Turkey to take back migrants

ATHENS: Greece called on Thursday on European Union authorities to better enforce a landmark 2016 migrant deal and ensure that Turkey take back nearly 1,500 people whose asylum requests were rejected.

Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said his government had submitted a "request" to the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, and the Frontex border agency "for the immediate return to Turkey" of just under 1,500 "third country citizens who are not entitled to international protection."

Under an EU-Turkey 2016 pact that sharply stemmed the flow of migrants to Europe, Ankara had undertaken to take back migrants not entitled to international protection, in return for billions of euros in aid. But Ankara has long accused the EU of not fulfilling its end of the bargain while it continues to host more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees.

"Europe needs to establish a common mechanism to address this issue within the new Migration and Asylum Pact, as well as implementing the necessary legal and operation mechanism for achieving returns," Mitarachi said in a statement.

Among asylum claimants whose applications had been "conclusively" rejected on appeal, 995 are in Lesbos, 180 in Chios, 128 in Samos and 187 in Kos, the migration ministry said.