Written answers

Thursday, 26 May 2016

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Human Rights Issues

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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12. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has raised, or will consider raising, at European Union or United Nations level concerns regarding Turkey's status as a safe state for the return of refugees, given recent reports by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International to the contrary; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11896/16]

Photo of Fiona O'LoughlinFiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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17. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has raised at European Union or United Nations level the question of Turkey's status as a safe state for refugees being overturned; the efforts he is making to cease the return of refugees to Turkey; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11914/16]

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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28. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he is satisfied that the European Union-Turkey refugee deal is not in contravention of European Union or international law, and that it upholds the human rights of the refugees concerned, given reports by a number of human rights watchdogs, such as Human Rights Watch documenting human rights abuses in the deportation process, and raising concerns regarding the safety of refugees returned to Turkey; if Ireland will accept any more refugees, other than those agreed in September 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11895/16]

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 12, 17 and 28 together.

The European Union and Turkey have engaged deeply on developing joint approaches to the migration crisis and the EU’s engagement with Turkey was the focus of the European Council on 17 and 18 March 2016. The core intention of the Agreement which emerged from the Council is to break the business model of the people smugglers who are profiting from the suffering of the vulnerable. In particular, it aims to discourage the victims of people smugglers from risking their lives and dangerous sea journeys. The very significant decline in the number of people attempting to cross the Aegean Sea from Turkey to the Greek Islands since the agreement entered into force suggests that it is achieving its aims.

The need for the agreement to comply with EU and international law was a key concern for very many EU Member States, including Ireland. The legal advice of the EU institutions and the Attorney General’s Office was that the terms of the Agreement were not in breach of EU or International law.

The EU and Turkey have agreed that there will be no blanket returns. Each migrant has the right to apply for international protection in Greece and to have their application assessed on an individual basis in line with international law, including with a right to appeal. Part of this assessment process includes ascertaining whether Turkey can be considered a safe country given an irregular migrant or asylum seeker’s individual circumstances.

Turkey has provided formal guarantees as part of the EU-Turkey Agreement that Syrian refugees returned to Turkey will be granted temporary protection upon return. Non-Syrians in need of international protection who are returned to Turkey, will also be able to apply for and receive protection there. The European Commission reported on 4 May that Turkey has received all those returned from Greece in accordance with the Agreement.

The EU is also committed to assisting Turkey deal with the enormous challenge of hosting some 2.7 million refugees and to improve the situation for these refugees. To this end, the EU has established a €3 billion Facility for Refugees in Turkey. This Facility aims to support Syrians and other refugees by providing access to food, shelter, education, and healthcare.

I am aware of recent reports by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, including testimony from migrants and witnesses that some Turkish border guards have used violence against Syrians. These reports are very worrying and will require a full investigation by the Turkish authorities. While Turkey has a right to secure its border with Syria, all actions on the part of Turkey must be in line with international law.

More broadly, the issue of human rights in Turkey has been raised by the Taoiseach at European Council and continues to form an integral part of the country’s enlargement process, which we, along with our European partners keep under close review. At the Foreign Affairs Council on 23 May, I reiterated Ireland’s concerns in respect of the rule of law, human rights and freedom of the media in Turkey and the need to hold Turkey to account to the core European values inherent in the accession process.

On 10th September 2015 the Government agreed to establish the Irish Refugee Protection Programme and to accept up to 4,000 persons in total under the EU’s resettlement and relocation programmes. It is expected that these numbers will be augmented further by family reunifications. The figure of 4,000 includes approximately 2,600 asylum seekers to be taken from Italy and Greece under the EU relocation programme and 520 refugees which the Government has committed to taking in by the end of 2016 under Ireland’s refugee resettlement programme.

Since 2015, 276 people have been resettled and a further 10 relocated to Ireland. A further 11 people were resettled on 17 May, while an additional 138 are expected in June and a further 108 September 2016. 31 people are expected to be relocated to Ireland from Greece in the coming weeks, and the State has pledged to take a further 40 on relocation from that country shortly afterwards.

The relocation and resettlement programmes are specific EU orientated programmes. They are separate to the ongoing acceptance of refugees who make applications for asylum in this jurisdiction or decisions made from time to time to accept groups of refugees from specific regions of the world.

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