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Executive Summary for December 13th

We review the latest refugee issues, including a deal between the E.U. and Mali to expedite returns of rejected asylum seekers, the break-up of a network accused of forging travel documents for migrants and Greece’s request to the E.U. to move migrants to the mainland.

Published on Dec. 13, 2016 Read time Approx. 3 minutes

E.U. and Mali Sign Deal to Repatriate Rejected Asylum Seekers

The European Union and Mali signed a deal on Monday to expedite the return of rejected asylum seekers, according to latest reports.

The Dutch foreign minister Bert Koenders, who signed the agreement on behalf of the E.U., called it a “necessary” measure to curb migration flows from Africa to Europe.

“It is the first time the E.U. establishes such a precise mechanism with an African country with regards to returning failed asylum seekers,” said an official statement issued by the Dutch foreign ministry.

In addition to bolstering border security and controlling movement, the agreement plans to develop job-creation projects for locals.

“There is support for the way in which we want to do a partnership with Mali, which involves very much working on the root causes in Mali, on why people are leaving,” Koenders said.

“We’ve worked a lot on the battle against trafficking, how we can work together to ensure that no people are dying on the road to Libya and Algeria,” he told Reuters.

Critics of the deal have argued the E.U. is merely outsourcing the burden of the refugee crisis to a third-party country.

Police Bust Criminal Ring Forging Travel Documents for Migrants

Greek and British police have arrested 33 people allegedly part of a transnational network that has helped smuggle migrants and asylum seekers to Britain and northern Europe by providing forged travel documents, reported Reuters.

According to the report, accomplices in Spain smuggled “over a thousand lost or stolen passports and travel documents” to Greece in the past six months. The forged documents were sold for between $3,184 (3,000 euros) and $15,932 (15,000 euros) each.

Greek police spokesperson Theodoros Chronopoulos stated that these travel documents were used by migrants trying to reach the U.K., Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland by air, from Greece, Spain and France.

Chris Hogben of the British National Crime Agency said that the gang also sold forged documents to “hundreds of Iranian nationals” in Greece who wanted to enter the U.K.

Greece Asks the E.U. for Permission to Transfer Migrants to the Mainland

Greece has once again asked the E.U. to permit the transfer of refugees and asylum seekers from detention centers on the eastern Aegean islands to the mainland, according to Greek newspaper the National Herald.

The overcrowding of the centers on the island and the recent tensions and violent incidents among the residents were some of the reasons for the request.

In a letter addressed to E.U. interior ministers and migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, Greek migration policy minister Yiannis Mouzalas requested that migrants who are unlikely to qualify for asylum – such as those from Algeria, Pakistan and Morocco – be transferred into “pre-removal” detention centers and dealt with separately.

“It is important to address the concerns of the local population and curb the adverse reactions already noted on many islands where the situation is difficult,” Mouzalas said. He added that the “manifestly unfounded” asylum claims of migrants from non-conflict countries have added to the overcrowding on the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Leros and Kos.

Greece’s request to separate migrants based on a tiered system has prompted concern that asylum seekers will be singled out for deportation based on nationality rather than their individual cases, while adhering to international legal norms.

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