Question for written answer
to the Commission
Rule 130
Alfred Sant (S&D)

E-002767-16
Subject: EU-Turkey Agreement on irregular migration

One of the major element of the EU-Turkey agreement, is directly linked to the return of ‘irregular migrants’ and foresees that for every Syrian returned to Turkey from Greek islands, another Syrian will be resettled from Turkey to the EU. The Commission, EU agencies, member states and the UNHCR will assist in establishing this 1-for-1 scheme. The final deal reached on Friday 18 March to return all migrants, including asylum seekers, reaching Greece illegally to Turkey, which came into force this Sunday 20 March, is still leaving several legal and practical questions open.

• Does the Commission intend to present detailed guidelines on the resettlements of Syrians under the 1:1 scheme which commenced as of the beginning of April?

• Does the Commission has further information on how many and which EU countries will be ready to voluntarily resettle Syrians via the ‘1-for-1’ scheme?

• How many Syrians are expected to be resettled from Turkey to the EU through the ‘1-for-1’ scheme and will the number of 72.000 be enough?

Answer given by Mr Avramopoulos on behalf of the Commission
1. Standard Operating Procedures for the implementation of the resettlement part of the one-for-one scheme have been developed in close cooperation between the Commission, Member States, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Turkey and were finalised on 12 May 2016. 2. The Commission would like to refer the Honourable Member to the third report on relocation and resettlement issued on 18 May 2016(1)and in particular the Annex 3. 3. In accordance with the EU-Turkey Statement of 18 March 2016, it is expected that the places remaining under commitments undertaken by Member States in July 2015 as well as places that are being made available under the second relocation decision (54000)(2) will be enough. Furthermore, once irregular crossings between Turkey and theatre ending or at least have been substantially and sustainably reduced, a Voluntary Humanitarian Admission Scheme will be activated.

E-002767-16
Suġġett: Ftehim bejn l-UE u t-Turkija dwar il-migrazzjoni irregolari
Wieħed mill-elementi ewlenin tal-Ftehim UE-Turkija riċenti jinvolvi r-ritorn ta’ “migranti irregolari”. Il-Ftehim jipprevedi li, għal kull Sirjan irritornat it-Turkija mill-gżejjer Griegi, Sirjan ieħor jiġu risistemat mit-Turkija lejn l-UE. Il-Kummissjoni, l-aġenziji tal-UE, l-Istati Membri u l-UNHCR għandhom jassistu biex tiġi stabbilita din l-iskema “wieħed għal wieħed”. Madankollu, il-ftehim aħħari biex jiġu rritornati fit-Turkija l-migranti kollha, inklużi dawk li jfittxu l-asil, li waslu fil-Greċja illegalment — li ntlaħaq il-Ġimgħa 18 ta’ Marzu u li daħal fis-seħħ nhar il-Ħadd 20 ta’ Marzu 2016 — xorta jħalli għadd ta’ kwistjonijiet legali u prattiċi li ma ġewx solvuti.
1. Biħsiebha l-Kummissjoni tippreżenta linji gwida dettaljati dwar ir-risistemazzjoni ta’ Sirjani taħt l-iskema “wieħed għal wieħed” li tnediet fil-bidu ta’ April?
2. Il-Kummissjoni għandha aktar informazzjoni dwar kemm hemm — u liema huma — l-Istati Membri li volontarjament se jkunu lesti li jirrisistemaw Sirjani taħt l-iskema “wieħed għal wieħed”?
3. Kemm Sirjani huma mistennija li jiġu risistemati mit-Turkija lejn l-UE permezz tal-iskema “wieħed għal wieħed”, u l-għadd ta’ 72 000 ser ikun biżżejjed?

Tweġiba mogħtija mis-Sur Avramopoulos f’isem il-Kummissjoni
1. Il-Proċeduri Operattivi Standard għall-implimentazzjoni tal-parti tar-risistemazzjoni tal-iskema one-for-one ġew żviluppati f’kooperazzjoni mill-qrib bejn il-Kummissjoni, l-Istati Membri, l-Uffiċċju Ewropew ta’ Appoġġ fil-Qasam tal-Ażil (European Asylum Support Office, EASO), il-Kummissarju Għoli tan-Nazzjonijiet Uniti għar-Refuġjati (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR) u t-Turkija u ġew iffinalizzati fit-12 ta’ Mejju 2016. 2. Il-Kummissjoni tixtieq tirreferi lill-Onorevoli Membru għat-tielet rapport dwar ir-rilokazzjoni u risistemazzjoni maħruġ fit-18 ta’ Mejju 2016(1) u b’mod partikulari l-Anness 3.3. B’konformità mad-Dikjarazzjoni tal-UE u t-Turkija tat-18 ta’ Marzu 2016, huwa mistennili l-postijiet li fadal fl-impenji li saru mill-Istati membri f’Lulju 2015 kif ukoll il-postijietli qed isiru disponibbli skont it-tieni deċiżjoni tar-rilokazzjoni (54 000)(2) se jkunubiżżejjed. Barra minn hekk, ladarba l-qsim irregolari bejn it-Turkija u l-UE qed jintemmjew għallinqas ġie ridott sostanzjalment u b’mod sostenibbli, tkun attivata l-IskemaVolontarja tal-Ammissjoni Umanitarja.

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