Historic EU-Türkiye Deal: Is “One for One” the Cure?

(Baonghean) - Last weekend, after an extremely "tense and nerve-wracking" meeting, contrary to observers' predictions that no agreement would be reached between the European Union and Türkiye, the parties agreed on a new solution that is considered a breakthrough and historic. However, whether the "one-for-one" calculation will provide a satisfactory solution, meeting the expectation of limiting the flow of immigrants into Europe, that is still a difficult question to answer.

Europe swallows bitterness

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (right) and French President Francois Hollande (left) attend a meeting on refugees in Brussels, Belgium on March 18, 2016. Photo: Reuters

According to a breakthrough agreement recently reached between the European Union and Türkiye, all irregular and illegal Syrian migrants who have arrived in Greece from Türkiye will be returned to Türkiye from yesterday - March 20.

More specifically, for every illegal Syrian migrant returned to Türkiye from Greece, the European Union will directly receive and resettle one Syrian refugee who has legally applied for asylum in Turkey.

The resettlement process in these EU countries will begin from April 4. This can be understood as a screening from the European source. The goal of this new agreement is also to close the main route through the Aegean Sea - the sea between Greece and Türkiye. This is a dangerous route that more than 1 million migrants have had to cross to enter Europe since last year.

However, along with this “one-for-one” agreement, the European Union had to commit to doubling its financial support for Türkiye to 6 billion euros; especially to speed up the negotiation process for Turkey’s accession to the EU as well as consider visa exemption for 78 million Turkish citizens when traveling to EU countries.

Therefore, it is said that an agreement was reached, but looking at the specific terms, one can easily see that Europe is clearly “at a disadvantage” and “in a weaker position” compared to Turkey. Some people even say that the agreement with Türkiye has shown the “painful compromise” of the European Union. In which, Turkey has held the upper hand, “in a superior position” forcing Europe to nod to Ankara’s requests to receive its cooperation in preventing the flow of refugees that continues to pour into Greece every day.

Is the beginning smooth?

Having to accept such somewhat excessive conditions from Türkiye, whether the “one-for-one” solution will be implemented smoothly as expected by the European Union is another matter. In fact, the “one-for-one” solution has been proposed for many days now, but it has received many strong objections from human rights organizations. Until it reaches a consensus among the parties, these objections will not stop.

The "one-for-one" deal recently reached with Turkey Kois cannot be a complete solution to the European Union's refugee crisis. Photo: AFP

In its latest statement, Amnesty International said that this was a heavy blow to the history of human rights in the world. The organization also stated: "Europe's sending back refugees does not demonstrate serious respect for international law. Turkey is not a safe country for refugees and migrants, so sending them back there is illegal and immoral." Even within the European Union, President of the European Council Donald Tusk also expressed concerns about the legality of this refugee return.

Besides the legal and human rights issues, the feasibility of this solution is also a big question. For example, in Greece, conducting interviews and creating profiles of illegal asylum seekers in this country to send them back will certainly be a difficult problem. Because of the exhausted economy, weak human resources and lax judicial system, Athens will find it difficult to handle this huge amount of work, despite the assistance of the European Union.

Meanwhile, for Turkey, pushing one person out and accepting another refugee in return does not change anything. It is simply a necessary “bargaining piece” with the European Union that Ankara must accept. In fact, implementing the agreement is not a priority for President Tayyip Erdogan’s government at the moment. Of course, it will come second to suppressing the Kurdish insurgency, or dealing with the crisis in its Syrian neighbor that is always lurking across the border.

Meanwhile, back at the European Union, one of the conditions that the EU has committed to Türkiye is to speed up the long-delayed process of Ankara's membership. There is no guarantee that this will be implemented as promised by Europe, as there are still many countries, especially Cyprus, that are still strongly opposed to opening up to Türkiye. There is also a long list of disagreements and conditions that Türkiye must meet to move towards EU standards.

Even before the negotiations, European Parliament (EP) President Martin Schulz warned on March 17 that negotiations aimed at reaching a final agreement could not be tied to Ankara’s efforts to join the EU. Or as Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel also emphasized, it is better to have no agreement than a bad document that “sells out” European values.

Thus, it is clear that behind the “one-for-one” agreement just reached between the European Union and Türkiye, there are still many disagreements and tensions. In the eyes of analysts, this continues to be a “quick fix” and disorienting step by Europe to save the current refugee crisis. And that a comprehensive review, overall improvement of regulations and addressing the root causes in the Middle East - North Africa are the complete solutions. Of course, this process certainly cannot come to an end with just the recent somewhat hasty “One-for-one” agreement.

Phuong Hoa