Tusk: “For the first time since the beginning of the migration crisis, I can see a European consensus emerging. It is a consensus around a comprehensive strategy that, if loyally implemented, can help stem the flows and tackle the crisis.”
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Ahead of a meeting of heads of state or government of the European Union (EU) with Turkey on 7 March in Brussels, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has issued recommendations aimed at helping States solve the refugee situation in Europe.
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UNHCR is urging Greece and States along the Balkans route to act quickly to avert a disaster and approach this emergency in a spirit of solidarity and sharing of responsibility. Safe access to asylum, shelter and basic assistance, and treating people with dignity and respect must remain essential elements of the response.
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Europe is backing into an even greater refugee crisis by tightening border restrictions on the hundreds of thousands who have fled war and conflict in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi said.
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A UNHCR survey found that some 94% of Syrians arriving in Greece in January made the perilous journey by sea to escape conflict and violence in Syria. Similarly, 71% of the Afghans surveyed cited conflict and violence as the main reason they left their country.
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Xydakis: “The refugee and migration flows on the Mediterranean corridors, as well as the wider geopolitical turmoil, have led us inevitably to think in different terms. We need to realise that the larger part of Europe’s borders are maritime borders.”
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Nationality-based restrictions at the border between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are preventing asylum seekers from reaching countries where they want to lodge protection claims – Human Rights Watch.
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UNHCR has expressed its concern over increasing restrictive measures, urges effective comprehensive European response. Solutions to Europe’s situation are not only eminently possible, but have already been agreed by States and urgently need to be implemented, the organisation said in an announcement.
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European Council agreed to speed up actions on the operation of hotspots, the implementation of the relocation decisions and returns, the control of the EU’s external borders and cooperation with countries of origin and transit.
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Xydakis highlighted Greece’s longstanding support for proposals that enhance border protection, adding that the new force, when it is created, must act with the consent of the interested state.
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