An EU deal with Turkey to return
irregular migrants from Greece "is a solution that will scarcely
work and has already created a stain on the EU's reputation as a
continent of human rights," House Speaker Laura Boldrini said
Monday. "I would never, ever have thought we would reach such a
point," she told Rai Isoradio. The first groups of migrants were
deported from Greece to Turkey on Monday as the deal between the
European Union and Ankara on easing the asylum-seeker crisis
came into effect. Over 130 migrants, mostly Pakistani nationals,
were taken from the Greek island of Lesbos to Dikili in western
Turkey. Another 66 were dispatched from the island of Chios.
Under the deal the EU will accept a Syrian refugee for
every Syrian migrant returned to Turkey after a failed bid for
asylum. German media said a group of 35 Syrian refugees landed
in Hannover as part of the agreement. The deal has been
denounced by human-rights groups. Boldrini is a former
spokesperson for the UN refugee agency UNHCR.
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