Turkey’s foreign minister was invited to an EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Amsterdam on Saturday, where he was told his country had to take in the refugees massing on its Syrian border.
Some 20,000 refugees from Aleppo are already crowded into Bab al-Salama, and another 50,000 are reported to be on their way. Several EU ministers reminded Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu of Turkey’s international obligations.
“It is unquestionable the fact that the people coming from inside Syria are Syrians in need of international protection. And, on top of that, the support that the EU is providing, to Turkey, among others, is aimed exactly at guaranteeing that Turkey has the means, the instruments and the resources to protect and to host people that are seeking asylum,” said the EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
Greece, much criticised for its initial response, has improved controls and on Lesbos one of the EU’s ““hotspot”“:http://www.ekathimerini.com/205708/article/ekathimerini/news/hot-spot-work-intensifies-as-greece-agrees-to-recognize-turkey-as-safe-country centres is taking shape with better housing and facilities. This future migrant registration centre is one of several that Brussels hopes will help host nations cope with the flood.