Up to 20,000 Syrians may be stranded on the border, officials say, trying to get into Turkey which already hosts more than two million refugees from the bloody conflict.
"The Geneva convention is still valid which states that you have to take in refugees," EU Enlargement and Regional Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn said as he went into talks on the migrant crisis with EU foreign ministers and their counterparts from countries seeking EU membership, including Turkey.
An EU diplomatic source told AFP that the foreign ministers, meeting informally in Amsterdam, would take the opportunity to voice their concerns over the fate of the refugees fleeing the government offensive against rebel forces in Aleppo, Syria's second largest city.
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said "everyone has seen the pictures from Aleppo, the tens of thousands of people who are fleeing, fleeing for their lives."
"We face the very real prospect that there will be another huge influx of refugees (into Europe)... that is the result of the indiscriminate bombing around Aleppo," Asselborn said as he went into the meeting...
[ahram.org.eg - AFP]
6/2/16
--
-
Related:
Österreich will Flüchtlinge in die Türkei zurückschicken lassen
Österreich will Flüchtlinge auf der Balkanroute mit Soldaten aufhalten
---
Billions pledged for Syria as tens of thousands flee bombardments
La UE activa el pago de 3.000 millones a Turquía para atender a refugiados
GR
FR
DE
ES
IT
RU
EU
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reaffirmed Saturday his country would keep its "open border policy" for Syrian refugees, saying as many as 55,000 people fleeing a new regime offensive were heading toward the frontier...
ReplyDeleteCavusoglu told reporters after a meeting with his EU counterparts in Amsterdam that there had been no change in Turkish policy.
"We still keep this open border policy for these people fleeing from the aggression, from the regime as well as air strikes of Russia," he said.
"We have received already 5,000 of them; another 50,000 to 55,000 are on their way and we cannot leave them there," he said.
Reports from the border Saturday said Turkey was preparing for a new influx, trying to find space in existing refugee camps for new arrivals as loyalist forces close in on rebels in Aleppo, Syria's second largest city.
Turkey already hosts more than two million people who have fled the war in Syria.
EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said foreign ministers had reminded Cavusoglu of Ankara's international obligations towards refugees and of the help Brussels was providing to help cope with the problem........http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/101899-160206-eu-says-turkey-must-keep-border-open-to-syrian-refugees