Europaudvalget 2016
KOM (2016) 0792
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EUROPEAN
COMMISSION
Brussels, 8.12.2016
COM(2016) 792 final
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL AND THE COUNCIL
Fourth Report on the Progress made in the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement
EN
EN
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Fourth Report on the Progress made in the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement
Introduction
During the period covered by this Fourth Report
1
, the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement
2
has
confirmed the trend of a steady delivery of results, albeit in the face of many challenges.
There has been a substantial fall in the number of crossings since the activation of the Statement, which has
continued in the period covered by this Report. The loss of life has been stemmed. The average number of
daily arrivals from Turkey to the Greek islands continued at around 81 persons, much lower than the peaks
seen in the same period last year. At the same time, the pace of returns from Greece to Turkey is too slow.
As a result, additional pressure is put on the already overstretched reception facilities on the Greek islands,
and this has contributed to recent public order incidents. While the overall scale of flows towards Greece
remains far less than before the Statement, the situation deserves not only careful monitoring but, more
importantly, additional efforts to help improve the situation on the Greek islands.
There has also been progress on other elements of the Statement. For example, the pace of resettlement of
Syrian refugees from Turkey has been continuously accelerating. The EU has allocated over EUR 2.2 billion
of the EUR 3 billion Facility for Refugees in Turkey and EUR 677 million has now been disbursed.
This Fourth Report describes the continued trend of progress, as well as the measures still needed for the
implementation of the Statement to be firmly rooted as a stable and sustainable pillar of EU policy. The
European Council of 20 October
3
noted that a lasting stabilisation of the situation on the Eastern
Mediterranean route requires the further implementation of the Statement. Its conclusions called for further
acceleration of returns from the Greek islands to Turkey; the rapid appointment of permanent coordinators in
the Greek hotspots; Member States to respond in full to the calls for resources by the relevant EU Agencies
in order to assist Greece; and for further progress on the full range of commitments vis-à-vis all Member
States contained in the Statement, including as regards visa liberalisation. This report confirms the urgent
need to progress on all these issues.
1. Current situation
Since the Third Report of 28 September 2016, the total number of arrivals from Turkey to the Greek islands
was 5,687
4
– representing an average daily arrival of around 81.
5
Although daily arrivals are still higher than
before the summer, numbers remain much lower in comparison to the same period last year (around 390,000
in total from 28 September to 4 December 2015), and to the month that preceded the Statement (when
average arrivals exceeded 1,700 a day). 63 fatalities and missing persons have been recorded in the Aegean
Sea since the EU-Turkey Statement. While each loss of life is highly regrettable, this represents a substantial
fall in the loss of life, given that over 592 people died over the same period in 2015.
6
1
2
3
4
5
6
Following COM(2016) 231 final of 20 April 2016 ("the First Report"), COM(2016) 349 final of 15 June 2016 ("the
Second Report") and COM(2016) 634 of 28 September 2016 ("the Third Report").
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/03/07-eu-turkey-meeting-statement/
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/10/21-european-council-conclusions/
Data available from the European Border and Coast Guard, from the period 26 September to 4 December 2016.
In total, there were 865,425 arrivals during the eight months before the EU-Turkey Statement and 22,838 arrivals
during the eight months thereafter.
Data on fatalities are provided by the International Organisation for Migration; the period covers the months of
April until the end of November. While the Third Report covered only the Greek Aegean Sea, the current report
covers the whole Aegean Sea.
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Enhanced coordination and cooperation
The EU Coordinator
for the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement
7
ensured the day-to-day
follow-up to the EU-Turkey Statement with the Greek and Turkish authorities, EU Agencies, international
organisations and other Member States with the focus on accelerating the asylum processes, increasing the
number of migrants returning from the Greek islands to Turkey, and establishing appropriate security
measures in the hotspots. To ensure full implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement and also to alleviate the
pressure on the Greek islands, implementation needs to be strengthened and accelerated. To this end, and
with regard to actions on the EU side, the EU Coordinator has elaborated a Joint Action Plan together with
the Greek authorities, which he is publishing today. It has been drawn up to acknowledge the additional
efforts needed on all sides: from Greece, the Member States, the European Border and Coast Guard, the
European Asylum Support Office, the Commission and International Organisations (the International
Organisation for Migration and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) in order to secure full
implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement, and in particular to alleviate the pressure on the Greek islands.
By working together on this basis, the objective is in particular to eliminate the backlog of asylum cases on
the Greek islands by April 2017. From its side, the Commission endorses the Joint Action Plan's key points
as set out in Annex 1.
The participation of Member States is indispensable to the effectiveness of the support provided by EU
Agencies for the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement. The European Council of 20 October
underlined the importance of meeting in full the requirements of the EU Agencies for staff, as well as the
European Asylum Support Office's Asylum Intervention Pool, to support at any time and in sufficient
numbers the frontline Member States. To facilitate a rapid follow-up to the European Council call for
additional staff, the European Asylum Support Office has developed a comprehensive pilot training
programme to ensure that case officers with limited national experience can be deployed to support the
Greek authorities. However, the shortfalls identified in the previous reports have still not been fully
addressed.
As of 5 December, the European Asylum Support Office had deployed 93 interpreters in Greece and 74
Member States' experts, out of which 52 are deployed in the hotspots, 39 of them being case workers. The
present shortfall is 61 case workers. Given the need for additional deployments, the European Asylum
Support Office issued on 11 November an additional call for 150 Member States' asylum experts, including
100 case workers for the islands, but based on the nominations received until 5 December, the total number
of deployed experts is actually expected to decrease from now to the end of the year. Unless this is urgently
7
The EU Coordinator was appointed by the President of the European Commission (http://europa.eu/rapid/press-
release_IP-16-942_en.htm)
following
the
European
Council
conclusions
of
March
2016
(http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/03/18-european-council-conclusions/).
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remedied, this will have a major negative impact on the speed with which cases can be handled and will
increase risks of an increased overcrowding on the islands.
As for border support, as of 5 December, the European Border and Coast Guard had 682 officers deployed in
Greece, including a total of 54 officers for the support of the implementation of the Statement. This means a
shortfall of 13 guest officers until 14 December and, thereafter, the shortfall increases to 57. As regards
Europol, the number of guest officers currently deployed in the hotspots to carry out secondary security
checks has increased to 24 (including 21 guest officers and three Europol own staff). For the time being, on
top of Europol staff deployed on the five islands to perform secondary security checks, four additional
officials are stationed in the European Regional Task Force in Piraeus for coordination purposes.
Deployment via Europol seems to continue to be sufficient, but the need for adjustments to meet future
development of the flows will have to be closely monitored.
Against that background, notably the risks of the increasing overcrowding of the island reception capacities
and related risks of public order (see below), Member States should urgently increase their pledges for the
European Asylum Support Office. The Member States should also keep their promises to send the requested
officers to the European Border and Coast Guard and bring them in line with the numbers and profiles
requested. Ensuring the constant availability for deployment of the guest officers and technical equipment
needed for the effective implementation of the operations coordinated by the European Border and Coast
Guard is crucial for its operationalisation, i.e. for the Agency and the Member States' border guard
authorities dealing with the irregular migration flow on the Eastern Mediterranean route.
The Turkish Liaison Officers, who had been recalled in the aftermath of the attempted coup, were
redeployed on the Greek islands on 25 October. The Turkish Coast Guard is actively patrolling on the
Eastern Aegean waters, registering a high weekly level of preventions of departures from Turkey (around
450-500 apprehensions).
Building on the deployment of a European Border and Coast Guard Liaison Officer to the NATO flagship in
April 2016 and the signature of standard operating procedures between the European Border and Coast
Guard and NATO Maritime Command in July, cooperation in the Aegean Sea has deepened in the form of a
common situational picture, early warning, surveillance activities and sharing of operational information
with the Greek and Turkish Coast Guards. This cooperation aims to continuously increase the already high
detection rate and to speed up information exchange on migrant smuggling. To this end, NATO has recently
provided equipment for the European Border and Coast Guard to access its regional restricted network, to
further step up the information exchange platforms between the two operations.
Information initiatives
Based on the work by the Task Force for a Migrants' Information Strategy, a high profile media consortium
is in the process of preparing an online ''Migrants' Information Portal'' in cooperation with the Commission.
It is expected to go live in early 2017 to inform millions of prospective migrants worldwide of the hazardous
journeys and the legal hurdles when attempting to enter the EU.
As a follow-up to the information campaign, which was organised on all hotspot islands in July-August to
inform migrants about their rights and options, the Commission is helping the Greek authorities establish
permanent information booths in all hotspots. They are to be staffed by experts of the Greek authorities, as
well as experts from European and international organisations, to provide a reliable source of information for
migrants. The information booth in Chios has been already set up, while that in Lesvos is under preparation.
Background documents and information material are being prepared by the Commission in cooperation with
the Greek authorities, EU Agencies, the International Organisation for Migration and the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees.
Key challenges and next steps
In view of the risks of increasingly overcrowded reception capacities and related risks to public
order, the Member States shall urgently deliver the necessary experts, as committed at the
European Council in October, for the European Asylum Support Office to speed up processing of
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asylum applications on the Greek islands, if necessary making use of the comprehensive training
developed by the European Asylum Support Office for the deployment of junior officers;
Member States shall continue to deliver experts to the European Border and Coast Guard, in line
with the numbers and profiles needed;
Launching the "Migrants' Information Portal" in early 2017 by the media consortium;
Setting up information points on all hotspot islands as soon as possible for the provision of direct
information to migrants.
2. Return of all new irregular migrants from Greece to Turkey
The Statement provides for the return of all new irregular migrants and asylum seekers, whose applications
have been declared inadmissible or unfounded, crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands after 20 March.
These measures are carried out strictly in accordance with the requirements of EU and international law, and
in full respect of the principle of
non-refoulement.
State of play on returns
Since the Third Report of 28 September 2016, with the return of Turkish Liaison Officers on the islands and
resumption of return operations in early September, 170 persons who entered Greece through Turkey have
been returned to Turkey in the framework of the EU-Turkey Statement, including 42 Syrians, which brings
the total number of migrants returned to Turkey following the EU-Turkey Statement to 748. Other
nationalities included Pakistanis (394), Afghans (61), Algerians (68), Iraqis (17), Bangladeshis (26), Iranians
(18), Sri Lankans (16), and Moroccans (15). The returned persons had received negative asylum decisions
(including negative decisions at second instance), had withdrawn their asylum applications, or had not
applied for asylum. In total, 1,187 irregular migrants were returned from Greece to Turkey in the course of
2016 under the EU-Turkey Statement or the Greece-Turkey bilateral readmission protocol, out of which 95
Syrians,.
Overall, the numbers of returns have been low but also below those of arrivals. The number of returns
somewhat increased in October, with operations taking place on a weekly basis, but in the first half of
November (when only four Pakistanis were returned) the absence of or delay in responses of the Turkish
authorities to requests by the Greek authorities to carry out return operations in line with the EU-Turkey
Statement
8
was noted. While the Greek Asylum Service has doubled the number of its experts working on
the islands and additional experts are expected to be recruited by the end of this year, further efforts are
needed, including through Member States' expert deployments through the European Asylum Support
Office, so that the processing of asylum applications at first instance is expedited and that the number of
returns is increased and sustained.
9
Non-Syrian migrants are being returned to Turkey by boat and transferred to a removal centre in Kirklareli
where they are informed about their rights, including the possibility to apply for a protection status in
Turkey. Reportedly, so far 47 persons submitted their applications to the Turkish authorities: one person has
been granted a refugee status while 46 have been released from the removal centre pending decisions on their
applications. So far, 417 persons, who did not apply for a refugee status in Turkey, have been returned to
their countries of origin. As regards Syrians, they are being returned from the Greek islands by plane and
placed in a refugee camp in Duzici. They are entitled to apply for temporary protection and, after a swift
preregistration for temporary protection, they are released and free to settle in the province of their choice, or
stay in the camp. Until now, all returned Syrians were preregistered with the exception of ten who decided to
return voluntarily to Syria. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the EU Delegation to
Turkey have recently visited the removal centre in Kirklareli and the refugee camp in Duzici.
8
9
According to the Hellenic Police, this led to one operation concerning the proposed return of 69 persons being
cancelled and two operations concerning the proposed return of 68 persons being delayed.
Such efforts include, in particular, better coordination of administrative procedures, practical cooperation between
the Greek Asylum Service (responsible for asylum) and the Hellenic Police (responsible for return) through
improved sharing of information throughout the procedure, and a better dove-tailing of asylum and
return/readmission procedures. In particular, steps should be taken to start the return procedure at the earliest
possible stage.
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In Turkey, 11,102 Syrian nationals (as of 15 November) have so far received work permits in 2016.
Since the Third Report of 28 September 2016, 869 persons returned voluntarily to their country of origin
from the mainland Greece and 163 from the islands, with support from the
Assisted Voluntary Return and
Reintegration programme.
Since 1 January 2016, a total of 5,710 migrants have used the programme from
Greece. To intensify these efforts, the programme has been realigned. Henceforth, all the participants from
the islands should be able to fully benefit from reintegration assistance. Greece's full participation in EU-
funded programmes on return (in particular, the European Reintegration Network programme) and its fullest
possible use of financial and technical support offered by these programmes, would also underpin all efforts
in terms of return.
Legal steps
The newly established Appeal Authority is now operational, with six permanent
Appeal Committees
(and
one alternate Committee to the permanent ones). These decide on appeals lodged since 20 July under the
admissibility and eligibility procedures (applied to nationalities with low recognition rates) against the first-
instance decisions of the Greek Asylum Service. To improve the efficiency of the new Appeal Authority and
increase the number of second-instance decisions, the Greek government decided on 25 October
10
to
establish seven additional Appeal Committees, bringing the total number of such Committees to 13, whilst
intending to bring the total number of Appeal Committees to 20 by the end of February 2017 and aiming to
increase the number of decisions per month. The Ministry of Justice and the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees have finalised the selection of the members of the seven additional Committees,
which are expected to be operational by the end of December. The Commission continues to provide support
to the Greek authorities to accelerate the asylum processes at first and second instance and improve the
productivity of the Asylum Service and the Appeal Authority.
As regards cases on the Greek islands, the total number of
appeals
against the 6,040
11
first-instance
decisions so far on admissibility and on merits by the Asylum Service is 2,014
12
. 838 second-instance
decisions have so far been taken out of these 2,014 appeal cases (i.e. in 42% of the cases). Out of the 407
appeal decisions so far on admissibility, 17 second-instance appeal decisions have confirmed the first-
instance inadmissibility decisions and 390 second-instance appeal decisions reversed the first-instance
inadmissibility decisions.
13
As regards the 431 appeal decisions on merits, 369 second-instance decisions
have confirmed the first-instance negative decisions and 62 reversed such negative decisions.
The new Appeal Committees perform an essential function in terms of ensuring that everyone has the
opportunity to exercise their legal rights. However, the pace of decision-making has been slow, with direct
consequences for the implementation of the Statement. So far the new Appeal Committees have issued 366
decisions in the context of the EU-Turkey Statement – 14 on admissibility and 352
14
on merits. A hearing
before the Hellenic Council of State concerning the constitutionality of the composition of the new Appeal
Committees took place on 29 November, and its decision is expected by the end of this year. This decision
will be of particular importance in determining the progress of many other cases.
Operational steps
10
11
12
13
14
Common Ministerial Decision 6373/2016.
As of 27 November, a total of 9,304 asylum applications have been submitted on the Greek islands since the
Statement. Out of these 9,304 applications, the Greek Asylum Service has taken 6,040 decisions in the context of the
procedures on the islands since 20 March, including 4,506 on admissibility and 1,534 on merits.
As of 27 November 2016.
The total figure includes second-instance decisions reversing first-instance inadmissibility decisions, as well as
granting refugee status.
Confirming the negative first-instance decisions in 350 cases and reversing them in two cases.
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Increasingly overcrowded reception capacity in the hotspots and recent incidents initiated by migrants and
local population on the islands
15
have contributed to the already difficult conditions on the islands for
working and living. There are 16,295
16
migrants present on the islands, whilst there are only 7,450 places in
official reception facilities, and a further 754 places under the rental scheme of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees. Managing the situation in the hotspots is also complicated by the heavy burden
placed on the Greek authorities on the mainland – in total, the Greek authorities report the presence of
around 62,000 migrants on the mainland and the islands combined on 6 December.
In addition to trying to expedite the processing of asylum applications and returns of irregular migrants to
Turkey, Greece has been taking a number of measures with a view to decongesting the hotspots. Vulnerable
migrants and families have been transferred to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' rental
scheme or hotels on the islands. Persons that cannot be returned to Turkey under the EU-Turkey Statement,
vulnerable groups and unaccompanied minors are also being transferred to the mainland. As of 1 December,
a total of 2,675 such persons have been transferred to the mainland. These persons have been referred to the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' rental scheme or to accommodation sites on the mainland,
or they secured accommodation on the mainland by themselves. The provision of suitable accommodation
for unaccompanied minors remains a top priority for the Commission, which has made funding available for
additional reception capacity and has been encouraging Member States to step up the relocation of eligible
unaccompanied minors from Greece and Italy.
A fast-track operational process has been put in place on Lesvos for migrants from the Maghreb countries,
Pakistan and Bangladesh, with registration
17
, interview and notification all taking place within a few days.
The Greek authorities are also working, in cooperation with local authorities, on creating additional detention
capacity or extending current sites on the islands to increase closed pre-removal capacities. There is a
continued need to ensure the sufficient availability of winterised reception facilities on the islands and the
upgrading of the accommodation facilities is ongoing. In response to the winter conditions, humanitarian
partners have been distributing – with EU support – clothes and other household items on the islands.
In order to address some concerns on safety and to improve the public order conditions on the islands, the
Hellenic Police has prepared safety and evacuation plans covering all persons and organisations in the
hotspots. Emergency Guidelines for the evacuation of EU Agency staff and Member States' experts working
in the hotspots have been prepared in case of an incident, and the Hellenic Police has increased the
deployment of police officers on the islands, including specially trained riot squads stationed near asylum
processing workplaces, and plans to further increase such deployments. The European Asylum Support
Office has also been increasing the security conditions of the asylum processing areas in the hotspots.
Despite improvements made so far, more remains to be done to address the situation on the islands. The
Registration and Identification Service should, as a matter of priority, finalise and adopt the Standard
Operating Procedures for the hotspots, taking full account of the EU-Turkey Statement, in order to improve
the processes. The time limit between making and lodging of an application should be reduced in accordance
with Article 6(2) of the Asylum Procedures Directive, which requires that a person, who made an asylum
application, has an effective opportunity to lodge the application as soon as possible. The Greek permanent
coordinators for the hotspots have not yet taken up their functions despite that their nomination has been
repeatedly announced during the past six months as being imminent; their presence is urgently needed to
ensure the overall management of the hotspots, including from a security point of view. Also many more
police officers should be deployed.
18
It is estimated that an adequate police force corresponding satisfactorily
to the security and public order needs in the hotspots with their current configuration would have to be three
15
16
17
18
For example, in Lesvos, the workspace of the European Asylum Support Office was damaged at the end of October
when fire was set on its containers, while shelters were set on fire in the Souda camp in Chios in mid-November.
As of 5 December.
Persons who made an application should have the possibility to lodge it as soon as possible in accordance with
Article 6(2) of the Asylum Procedures Directive.
180 policemen have been deployed to the islands with the European Border and Coast Guard co-financing, as
follows: Lesvos: 40, Chios: 40, Samos: 40, Leros: 30, Kos: 30. They form part of the 247 policemen deployed to the
islands.
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or even four times larger – with the exact deployment needs varying from one island to another – than the
number of police officers currently deployed.
EU financial assistance to Greece
Whilst EU financial support to Greece has focused not just on the hotspots, facing the most pressing needs,
support to mainland Greece also has a positive knock-on for the delivery of the Statement. Measures are
being taken to ensure that the EUR 509 million available under Greece's national programmes for the period
2014-2020 under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and the Internal Security Fund start being
fully used as soon as possible. The transfer of the Responsible Authority for the management of the national
programmes to the Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism was completed in October. The
revision of both national programmes was deemed necessary so as to better adjust them to current needs –
the one of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund has been recently approved while the one for the
Internal Security Fund is currently being finalised and should be approved very soon. The Commission
continues to urge the Greek authorities to use its national programmes in an efficient and effective manner,
and is working closely with the Greek authorities to improve the delivery mechanisms so that the resources
available can be used to cater for urgent needs, in particular in the field of reception and border control (such
as registration, identification and fingerprinting). Out of the EUR 352.8 million awarded to Greece in
emergency assistance through the above mentioned two Funds, approximately EUR 70 million has directly
supported the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement, either directly to the Greek authorities or through
EU Agencies and international organisations.
19
In addition, EUR 199 million have been made available under the Emergency Support Instrument adopted by
the Council on 15 March 2016 An additional budgetary allocation of EUR 50 million will be available in
December, intended to cover existing gaps in Greece in the provision of food and accommodation, and to
allow a rapid response for any unforeseen event. Humanitarian partners funded under the Emergency
Support Instrument are providing, both on the mainland and on the islands, a needs-based response. On the
islands, in particular, aid is being provided through multi-purpose cash assistance, construction of additional
informal reception facilities, and provision of healthcare, food, water, sanitation and other basic services.
Key challenges and next steps
Speeding up urgently the processing of asylum applications, in particular on the islands, from
making an application to appeal and final decision, in line with EU and international law;
Increasing the number of Appeal Committees and of decisions per Appeal Committee prioritising
the islands;
Stepping up urgently the pace of returns to Turkey under the EU-Turkey Statement;
Improving the security and safety arrangements on the islands in particular through the
appointment of permanent coordinators in the hotspots and through increased deployments of
Greek police officers;
Ensuring winterised reception capacities on the islands;
Ensuring the transfer of unaccompanied minors to dedicated facilities;
Fully operationalising the newly designated national authority responsible for the management of
the national programmes under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and the Internal
Security Fund, to enable the efficient and effective use of the funding available under these
programmes as a matter of urgency.
19
This substantial financial EU support has supported shelter, accommodation, health care, transportation and other
facilities at hotspots and elsewhere on the islands through funding to the Ministry of Defence and the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees; increased the capacity of the Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform for
the processing of asylum applications and provision of services to third-country nationals; increased the number of
staff in the First Reception Centres; strengthened the capacity of the European Asylum Support Office in asylum
processing and fingerprinting; and financed a pilot project for the assisted voluntary return to Turkey.
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3. "One for One" Resettlement from Turkey to the EU
State of play
As of 5 December, the total number of Syrians resettled from Turkey to the EU and Norway under the 1:1
framework was 2,761. Since the Third Report of 28 September 2016, 1,147 (up until 5 December) Syrians
were resettled to eight Member States (Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands and Sweden). The total number of persons approved and awaiting resettlement is currently 340.
As a result, like in the previous reporting period, the pace of resettlement is considerably advanced compared
to returns from the Greek islands. And this pace needs to be maintained.
Communication between the Member States and Turkey on planned selection missions to Ankara and
resettlements from Ankara has improved, contributing to a better coordination and planning of resettlement
activities and optimised use of resources. A more regular pace of resettlements has been established.
20
A
number of Member States have recently received additional referrals of candidates from the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees, while others have already planned further resettlement selection missions
and operations in the coming months.
In addition to the referral list of 5,700 Syrian refugees submitted on 2 September for possible resettlement,
the Turkish authorities submitted to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees new lists of 5,000
and 2,000 persons on 7 October and 18 November, respectively. The submission of a next list, with
approximately 2,000 Syrians, is foreseen for December, and the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees is also expecting Turkish authorities to verify older lists with approximately 4,000 Syrians. Should
this be done, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has indicated that a sufficient number of
referrals will be available for resettlement operations in the first months of 2017. The United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees however estimates that it would need to receive 10,000 files from the Turkish
authorities on a monthly basis during the first three months of 2017 (only for European resettlements
programmes). The EU Member States have started to communicate to the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees their resettlement quotas for next year.
Operational steps
The EU Resettlement Team continues its coordinating function to assist Member States' operations and
liaisons with the International Organisation for Migration, the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees, and the Turkish General Directorate for Migration Management. The United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees has been working closely with the Turkish authorities on improving the quality
of registration when compiling the referral lists and is supporting the Turkish authorities for the
establishment of a continuous registration mechanism of all Syrians under temporary protection present in
the country. The project started at the end of October, initially covering 30 provinces (out of 81) with smaller
Syrian populations, and should bring immediate results for effective provision of referrals.
Following a pledging exercise, the Commission is currently adding to the national programmes of the
relevant Member States under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund an overall amount of
approximately EUR 213 million for the admission of Syrian nationals present in Turkey.
21
Key challenges and next steps
Maintaining the pace of resettlement;
Finalisation by the Commission of funding to relevant national programmes under the Asylum,
Migration and Integration Fund for the admission of Syrian nationals present in Turkey.
20
21
COM(2016) 791 final.
This follows the adoption of the Council Decision (EU) 2016/1754 on 28 September allowing Member States to
fulfil their obligations under Decision (EU) 2015/1601 by using the unallocated 54,000 places to either relocate
applicants for international protection from Italy and Greece or admit to their territory Syrian nationals in clear need
of international protection present in Turkey through resettlement or other forms of legal admission.
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4. Prevention of new sea or land routes for irregular migration
Efforts to control the flows on the Eastern Mediterranean route have not resulted in any major re-routing
from Turkey although there has been some small-scale activity in terms of transport to Italy and Cyprus.
During the reporting period, 18 boats, for a total of 1,500 migrants, arrived in Italy from Turkey and two
boats arrived in Cyprus with a total of 212 migrants
22
, all Syrians, on board.
On land, there were regular detections of irregular crossings at Turkey's land borders with Bulgaria and
Greece, although the numbers of such detections seem to have decreased since the Third Report of 28
September 2016. Currently, on daily average, around ten illegal border crossings from Turkey via the land
border into Greece are registered, and fewer than four from Turkey into Bulgaria
23
. In order to support
border and migration management in Bulgaria, the Commission has made available EUR 160 million in
emergency funding; EUR 101 million has been already awarded with the advance payments disbursed, and
the funding applications have recently been submitted in relation to the emergency needs for the remaining
EUR 59 million. On 6 October, the new European Border and Coast Guard Agency was officially launched
at Bulgaria's border with Turkey. As of 5 December, the European Border and Coast Guard has deployed 68
officers at this borderline.
5. Voluntary Humanitarian Admission Scheme
As reported previously, discussions to finalise the Standard Operating Procedures for the Voluntary
Humanitarian Admission Scheme are ongoing in the Council in close cooperation between the Commission,
the European Asylum Support Office, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the
International Organisation for Migration. Once the Standard Operating Procedures are agreed, an assessment
should be made whether the conditions for triggering the implementation of the Scheme have been fulfilled.
The EU-Turkey Statement stipulates that the Scheme will be activated once irregular crossings between
Turkey and the EU are ending or at least have been substantially and sustainably reduced. Putting the
Scheme in place would boost the implementation of the Statement, providing Syrians with a safe and legal
alternative to irregular migration to the EU.
6. Visa liberalisation
As regards the implementation of the Visa Liberalisation Roadmap, there are still seven benchmarks that
remain to be met as highlighted in the Third Report of 28 September 2016:
issuing
biometric travel documents
fully compatible with EU standards;
adopting the measure to prevent
corruption
foreseen by the Roadmap;
concluding an
operational cooperation agreement with Europol;
revising legislation and practices on
terrorism
in line with European standards;
aligning legislation on personal
data protection
with EU standards;
offering effective
judicial cooperation in criminal matters
to all EU Member States;
implementing the
EU-Turkey Readmission Agreement
in all its provisions.
As reported previously, the Commission has encouraged Turkey's efforts to complete the delivery of all the
outstanding benchmarks on the Visa Liberalisation Roadmap as soon as possible.
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The Commission and
Turkey have continued an engaged dialogue to find solutions, including the legislative and procedural
changes needed on all the outstanding benchmarks.
22
23
24
Since the EU-Turkey Statement, the total number of irregular migrants from Turkey to Cyprus is 324.
In comparison to around 14 and 13, respectively, in the same period of 2015.
Notably in high-level meetings, including on 30 June with First Vice-President Timmermans, on 1 September with
Commissioner Avramopoulos, on 9 September as part of the EU-Turkey High Level Political Dialogue led by the
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President Mogherini and
Commissioner Hahn, on 30 November and on 6 December with First Vice-President Timmermans and
Commissioner Avramopoulos.
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As regards the benchmark on biometric travel documents, Turkey started issuing on 1 November the second-
generation passports that include both the facial image and the fingerprints of the passport holder. The
passports, which use the encryption system EAC (Extended Access Control) in line with the current ICAO
standards and EU standards of 2014, will be issued temporarily, until the third-generation passports fully
compliant with the EU standards and the Visa Liberalisation Roadmap benchmark will start to be issued. The
third-generation passports are co-financed by the EU and are expected to be circulated towards the end of the
first quarter of 2017.
The Commission has requested Turkey repeatedly to continue to implement the bilateral readmission
agreements with Greece, Bulgaria and Romania. In September, the Turkish authorities agreed bilaterally
with Bulgaria on a practical arrangement for readmission of third-country nationals from Bulgaria; in the
context of this arrangement, Bulgaria has requested the readmission for 543 persons, out of which Turkey
has so far accepted 19 persons. As regards the readmission of Turkish nationals, In January-October 2016
Turkey replied positively to 148 out of 301 readmission applications received, and 117 Turkish nationals
were readmitted under the EU-Turkey Readmission Agreement. In terms of practical cooperation, there
remain issues in relation to e.g. respecting the deadlines foreseen by the Agreement.
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In parallel, discussions to reach a compromise are still ongoing between the co-legislators on the
Commission's proposal
26
to strengthen the existing suspension mechanism, which sets out the circumstances
leading to a possible suspension of visa-free travel for citizens of all countries enjoying visa liberalisation.
7. Facility for Refugees in Turkey
Since the Third Report of 28 September 2016, the Commission has continued its efforts to address the most
critical needs of refugees and host communities in Turkey. The total amount allocated under the Facility for
both humanitarian and non-humanitarian assistance has reached EUR 2.2 billion for 2016-2017. This
represents a large share of the EUR 3 billion total. Of the allocated money, the amounts contracted have
increased to EUR 1.3 billion. Of the money contracted, EUR 677 million has been disbursed.
27
These funds
continue to have a direct impact on the ground, making onward travel to the EU of those benefiting from the
funds less likely.
Humanitarian assistance
The Commission has continued to implement its humanitarian strategy under the Facility,
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with EUR 595
million allocated to date. Of this, EUR 512 million has been contracted through 26 humanitarian projects
with 19 partners, covering the response to basic needs, protection, education, health, food and shelter. Out of
the EUR 512 million contracted, EUR 407 million has been disbursed to date.
The Commission launched the flagship of this humanitarian strategy – the Emergency Social Safety Net – in
Turkey on 26 September, together with the Turkish authorities and the partner organisations implementing
the scheme, and the registration of beneficiaries started on 28 November. It is the EU's largest-ever
humanitarian programme, with a budget of EUR 348 million,
29
and aims at providing the most vulnerable
refugees with monthly cash transfers onto an electronic debit card to help them cover their basic needs in
terms of food, shelter or education. While the first cash distributions are expected at the end of December
2016, the Emergency Social Safety Net aims at progressively covering one million of the most vulnerable
refugees by the first semester of 2017.
25
26
27
28
29
According to data submitted by the Member States on the readmission of Turkish nationals.
COM(2016) 279 final of 4 May 2016.
As part of the Facility's visibility activities, an interactive map allows direct visualisation of the location and
expected results of the different projects:
http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/news_corner/migration/index_en.htm.
The provision of humanitarian assistance under the Facility continues to be implemented in line with EU
humanitarian aid law and according to the principles laid down in the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid.
Contracted to the World Food Programme and its implementing partner the Turkish Red Crescent that works in
close coordination with the Ministry of Social and Family Policy and AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management
Presidency), which reports directly to the Prime Minister and coordinates Turkey's response to the refugee crisis.
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In the field of protection, a comprehensive response plan is being finalised. A broad range of protection
interventions is already ongoing, including a EUR 9 million project signed in July 2016, which is being
implemented by the United Nations Population Fund. The project will expand previously Commission-
funded interventions by the United Nations Population Fund by supporting 20 safe spaces for women and
girls, providing reproductive health care and interventions related to gender-based violence. The project also
aims at facilitating access to health services for the most vulnerable women and girls among refugees.
Non-humanitarian assistance
The resources mobilised under the non-humanitarian strand of the Facility (around EUR 1.6 billion) have
been almost completely allocated. EUR 790 million has by now been contracted and EUR 270 million
disbursed.
Under the Special Measure of July 2016 on education, health, municipal infrastructure and socio-economic
support to refugees in Turkey, two major direct grants were signed in September for a duration of two years.
The first contract – for EUR 300 million – with the Turkish Ministry of National Education provides almost
half a million Syrian children with access to formal education and reaches 15,000 teaching and 2,000 non-
teaching staff in the Ministry. The second contract – also of EUR 300 million – with the Ministry of Health
provides around two million refugees access to primary healthcare services through the creation of over 500
healthcare facilities, and rehabilitative mental health services for up to one million refugees in Turkey. In
addition, family planning, prevention of communicable diseases, recruitment and training of healthcare staff
and outreach activities will be provided.
In addition, on 28 November, a contract worth EUR 50 million was signed to build and equip 15 new schools
in provinces with a high concentration of Syrian refugees. Standard schools will be built with 24 classrooms
each, including rooms for staff and ten special rooms for disabled and traumatised children. The construction
and equipping of these schools will benefit 11,000 Syrian children. It will also increase the implementation
and management capacity of the Ministry of National Education.
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Further projects to help provide education infrastructure, hospitals and utilities will be signed over the next
few months with the International Financial Institutions.
Under the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis, two contracts are foreseen to be signed
by the end of the year. The first project, worth EUR 33 million, will increase access to inclusive and high-
quality health services for Syrian refugees and host communities, involving the Danish Red Cross and the
Turkish Red Crescent. The second project, worth EUR 5 million, will be implemented by Spark, a Dutch
NGO, and aims to increase participation and equal access to further and higher education of vulnerable
Syrian youth who had to drop out from their studies. Further bottom-up projects under the EU Regional
Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis are under preparation.
The Facility's Results Framework
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is about to be finalised for the next Steering Committee meeting in
January 2017. As part of the Facility's monitoring and evaluation system, the Framework should spell out the
Facility's outputs and outcomes, and confirm the impact of its achievements. A communication strategy for
the Facility is also being finalised.
Key challenges and next steps
Ensuring the speedy contracting of all actions that have been programmed and their effective and
financially sound delivery in full cooperation with the Turkish authorities;
Further humanitarian projects in the field of health and education, contracts with International
Financial Instruments and through the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis to
30
31
This project comes on top of a similar one – worth EUR 70 million – to build and furnish 26 additional schools, but
which does not fall under the framework of the Facility.
The Framework should be a living document that allows for the continuous review of the relevance and results of its
interventions. The purpose of the Facility monitoring and evaluation system would therefore be three-fold: the
Framework should at the same time be an accountability mechanism, a performance monitoring tool, and an
information management tool.
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be signed in the coming months;
Preparation of the 2017 Humanitarian Implementation Plan for Turkey;
Finalisation of the Facility's Results Framework and operationalisation of the monitoring and
evaluation system;
Finalisation of the communication strategy for the Facility;
Next Steering Committee scheduled on 12 January 2017.
8. Upgrading the Customs Union
A commitment to upgrading the Customs Union was taken at the EU-Turkey Summit of November 2015.
Building on the success of the existing Customs Union and the first EU-Turkey High Level Economic
Dialogue of April 2016, and following a public consultation and an external study, the Commission has
carried out an impact assessment on opening negotiations with Turkey to modernise the Customs Union and
extend the bilateral preferential trade relationship to services, public procurement and agriculture. This
impact assessment underlines the positive economic and social benefits of an extended Customs Union for
both the EU and Turkey. Following the Commission's preparatory work, draft negotiating directives are to be
presented to the Council.
9. Accession process
Within the framework of accession negotiations, 16 chapters have been opened so far and one of these was
provisionally closed.
Preparatory work has continued in the key areas of the judiciary and fundamental rights, and justice, freedom
and security (Chapters 23 and 24). The Commission is in the process of completing an updating of the
documents to take account of the latest developments. These chapters cover a range of critical issues
including fundamental rights such as freedom of speech, judiciary, anti-corruption policy, migration and
asylum, visa rules, border management, police cooperation, and the fight against organised crime and
terrorism. The EU expects Turkey to respect the highest standards when it comes to democracy, rule of law,
and respect of fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression.
Already last spring, preparatory documents were submitted to the Council, without prejudice to Member
States' positions in accordance with the existing rules, on energy (Chapter 15), education and culture
(Chapter 26), and foreign, security and defence policy (Chapter 31).
The Commission reported on the general situation in Turkey in its report of 9 November 2016.
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10. Humanitarian conditions inside Syria
The humanitarian situation inside Syria remains of the utmost concern, in particular in Eastern Aleppo,
where between 250,000 and 300,000 people have been stuck without assistance since July, with the health
system close to collapse, food supplies running out quickly and the prices for the few remaining commodities
sky-rocketing. Responding in an effective and timely manner to the humanitarian needs of people in Eastern
Aleppo and elsewhere across Northern Syria depends heavily on the common work of the EU and Turkey,
including facilitating access by all possible routes, not least through the delivery of cross-border assistance
from neighbouring countries like Turkey and Jordan.
EUR 140 million has been allocated in 2016 to life-saving cross-border operations from Turkey into
besieged and hard-to-reach areas in Northern Syria for the activities of partner organisations.
33
In view of the
dire situation in Eastern Aleppo, the EU launched a humanitarian initiative on 2 October to support medical
evacuations from Eastern Aleppo and deliveries of food and medicine into Eastern Aleppo once access and
security are ensured. Under this initiative, the Commission has allocated EUR 25 million to humanitarian
partners. But funding is also intended for other sudden emergencies across Syria, enabling partners to
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33
SWD(2016) 366 final.
In sectors such as health, protection, education and first line response, focusing on the most vulnerable areas.
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quickly mobilise pre-positioned stocks to deliver aid in newly accessible areas or respond to sudden
displacements of population, including with aid delivery convoys.
In view of the escalating violence and rising humanitarian needs, the EU is continuously urging all parties to
respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and to ensure that the protection of civilians is
the first priority.
11. Conclusion
Despite challenging circumstances, the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement has continued to be
consolidated since the Third Report of 28 September 2016. The trend of much reduced attempts to cross the
Aegean and of deaths at sea since the EU-Turkey Statement has again confirmed the core strategy behind the
decision of the EU and Turkey to agree on the Statement.
Progress has also been made on other elements, in particular when it comes to the pace of contracting under
the Facility for Refugees in Turkey and the implementation of projects to support refugees on the ground, as
well as in resettling Syrian refugees from Turkey.
While EU and Member States' efforts to strengthen the migration management and asylum processing
capacity of the Greek administration has continued, much remains to be done to address the main shortfalls
identified in the previous report. As noted in the First Report, there is no scope for complacency, particularly
as one of the most challenging elements – the daily operation of the actual returns in full compliance with
EU and international rules – can still not be considered to be fully implemented. Successful implementation
depends mainly on the political determination of all sides to take the necessary actions. Conditions on the
Greek islands are deteriorating, caused by the fact that returns are too slow and at a lower level than arrivals.
This needs urgent concerted action by the Greek authorities, EU Agencies and the Member States to
accelerate the implementation of the relevant parts of the EU-Turkey Statement and to ensure practical
results on the ground on the islands. It is essential that resources are immediately provided to ensure the
effective processing of asylum applications on the Greek islands: this requires Member States to respond in
full to calls from the European Asylum Support Office, and the Greek authorities to ensure that the asylum
decisions can be taken swiftly, as well as to step up the pace of returns.
Turkey should take the necessary measures to fulfil the remaining visa liberalisation benchmarks as soon as
possible, to enable the EU to lift the visa requirements for Turkish citizens.
The Commission will continue to drive the work forward and will present its Fifth Report on the progress
made in early March 2017.
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