EU proposes visa-free travel for Turks under migrant deal
The European Union proposed on Wednesday to let Turkish citizens travel to Europe on short vacations and business trips without visas.
The deal is part of an agreement struck between Turkey and the 28-nation EU in March to manage the continent's worst refugee crisis since World War II. Greece now deports migrants from the European gateway island of Lesbos back to Turkey, and Syrian refugees from Turkey are being resettled in Europe.
More than 1 million migrants entered Europe last year, often traveling to Lesbos from Turkey before heading on to northern Europe. Many of the almost 3 million refugees in Turkey are fleeing the 5-year-old civil war in Syria.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, also proposed Wednesday that EU member countries that refuse to take in their share of asylum seekers pay a $290,000 “solidarity contribution” per person they would have otherwise been responsible for.
Greece begins sending migrants back to Turkey
That measure is likely to run into opposition. On Tuesday, Hungary’s prime minister’s office said the nation will hold a referendum in September or October on whether to accept the mandatory resettlement of migrants from countries with a disproportionate number of asylum applications.
The commission said Wednesday that Turkey has met most of the 72 criteria needed for a visa waiver.
"The Turkish authorities have made remarkable progress since the 18 March EU-Turkey Summit, and we trust Turkey is committed to delivering on all fronts as soon as possible,” said Dimitris Avramopoulos, Europe’s commissioner for migration, home affairs and citizenship.
The commission asked EU leaders and the European Parliament to approve the plan by June 30.
Meanwhile, Britain’s government bowed to pressure Wednesday and agreed to take in unaccompanied Syrian children who have traveled to Europe but did not specify a number. Last month, members of parliament voted against a plan to accept 3,000 unaccompanied Syrian children who reached the continent.
Erich Reich, chairman of Kindertransport-Association of Jewish Refugees, was among the people who had called on British Prime Minister David Cameron to accept the unaccompanied children.
The British government has already pledged to take in up to 3,000 Syrian children from refugee camps in the Middle East and up to 20,000 Syrian refugees from Syria.