Barcelona, London, Amsterdam, Athens and Vienna were among European capitals where thousands staged demonstrations opposing the accord, which goes into effect today and grants EU countries the right to deport refugees arriving in Europe via Turkey.
In Barcelona, organizers claimed that some 15,000 protesters turned out for the second protests in a week, chanting slogans such as “refugees welcome” and “no person is illegal.”
Several Catalan politicians took part in the demonstration, which Spanish authorities said drew some 5,000 people.
In London, some 4,000 people vented their anger at the deal, which has been slammed by human rights organizations. Placards urged the public to “stand up to racism.”
In the Greek capital of Athens, Afghan families and children were among thousands of protesters, chanting slogans declaring “we are human beings too.”
In Switzerland, the cities of Geneva, Zurich and Lucerne saw smaller rallies in support of refugees.
In the Welsh capital of Cardiff, protesters carried banners and handed out leaflets, as they marched to City Hall, according to local news reports.
The agreement signed in Brussels with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu places Turkey on a new path to acceding to the EU in exchange for taking back refugees – a deal slammed by human rights groups.
Following three rounds of talks, Davutoglu and EU President Donald Tusk confirmed the agreement, which comes into force on Sunday.
The aim of the accord is to close the main Aegean Sea route between Turkey and Greece, through which a million refugees escaping wars in Syria, Iraq and beyond flooded Germany and Sweden last summer, overwhelming authorities.
The deal has been widely criticized, especially by human rights groups. Even German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed doubts about its legality and effectiveness in stemming the flow of refugees.
"I have no illusions that what we agreed today will be accompanied by further setbacks. There are big legal challenges that we must now overcome," Merkel said after the 28 EU leaders reached agreement with Davutoglu.
"It's a historic day today because we reached a very important agreement between Turkey and the EU," the Turkish prime minister enthused at the press conference.
"Today we realized that Turkey and EU have the same destiny, the same challenges and the same future," he was quoted as saying.
Just as the deal was concluded, Turkey announced it had intercepted hundreds of refugees trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos, where many of the migrants bound for other European countries first landed last summer in desperate sea journeys that often ended in drownings.
Merkel acknowledged that much of the debate over the agreement had focused on ensuring that Turkey, a country with a poor human rights record, would respect the refugees’ right to asylum.
from Rudaw http://ift.tt/1TY1OYj
via Defense News
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