Greece began expelling refugees to Turkey as part of a controversial European Union plan to limit the number of displaced people flowing into Europe. Under heavy security, officials on the Greek Islands of Chios and Lesbos deported refugees and migrants on boats bound for Turkey.
According to USA Today, the operation started at dawn with refugees escorted onto small ferry boats by officers from Frontex, the EU border protection agency. Frontex said 135 migrants in Lesbos were put on two ferries headed to Turkish coasts. Meanwhile, 4,000 individuals are still detained there.
Human rights advocates have strongly opposed the plan, claiming Turkey, which hosts 2.7 million Syrian migrants, cannot adequately care for them. A spokesman for a government refugee crisis committee told state news that all of the migrants returned are from Pakistan except for two migrants from Syria who returned voluntarily. The spokesman added there is no timetable for returns and that examining asylum applications will take some time.
NBC News reported that the initial deportations consist of refugees who do not qualify for asylum. Currently, 50,000 refugees and migrants are stranded in Greece following EU and Balkan border closures. However, those who arrived after March 20 will be detained for deportation.
The EU promised to take in one Syrian asylum seeker that it deems legitimate for each migrant that is returned to Turkish territories. The political bloc does not accept asylum applications from individuals who want to remain in Europe for purely economic reasons to be legitimate. The interior minister of Turkey says people who are not legitimate Syrians will be deported while Syrians will be sent to refugee camps where they will supplant those who will be directly relocated in Europe as part of the one for one plan, reports BBC News.
Several Greek residents were against the deportations because providing for the refugees has been a benefit to the local economy. Residents clashed with local police in a protest against the deportations planned for the Island of Chios.
Last month, Turkey and the EU reached an agreement after European countries struggled to prevent a repeat of a surge in migration in 2015, which saw more than a million individuals reach the continent, seeking escape from Syria's civil war.
