Turkish citizens may have visa-free EU travel by early May

Visa-free travel for Turkish citizens travelling to the EU may be agreed as early as May 4th, the European Commission said on Wednesday, as it reported "good progress" on the implementation of a controversial EU-Turkey deal that aims to reduce the number of migrants arriving in Europe.

In its first official update on the scheme which began on April 4th, European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans said that "the message is starting to get through that turning to smugglers is the wrong choice to make".

So far, 325 irregular migrants arriving to Greece via Turkey after March 20th have been returned to Turkey under the agreement, while 103 Syrian refugees have been resettled directly from Turkey to EU countries under the "one for one" resettlement scheme.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras told parliament in Athens that the daily arrival of approximately 3,000-4,000 migrants of a few months ago had slowed dramatically, with about 50 to 60 migrants now arriving to Greece daily.

The plan, which has seen thousands of migrants who arrived on Greek islands after March 20th detained while their asylum application is processed, has been strongly criticised by human rights groups.

Hundreds drown

The update on the EU-Turkey plan was released as the UN’s refugee agency confirmed reports earlier this week that up to 500 people may have died after a migrant boat sunk in the Mediterranean. The UNHCR said that, based on interviews with 41 survivors, hundreds of people may have died when a boat travelling between

Libya

and

Italy

sunk after smugglers attempted to transfer passengers from one vessel to a larger boat in the Mediterranean.

All those rescued were of African nationality, and included Somalis, Ethiopians, Egyptians and a Sudanese survivor.

The sinking, which occurred within days of the first anniversary of the Lampedusa tragedy in which an estimated 800 people lost their lives, represents the worst single loss of life this year in the Mediterranean.

The Brussels-based European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) called this week on the European Union to provide "credible options" to those in need of protection, noting that little has been done to open safe and legal pathways for refugees.

In its update on the implementation of the EU-Turkey plan, the European Commission said it would propose granting Turkish citizens visa-free travel to the European Union on May 4th if all the required conditions are met.

Under an already-existing agreement, Turkey is obliged to fulfil 72 conditions to be eligible for visa-free travel. Speaking in Brussels, EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos declined to say how many of the benchmarks had been met.

“It’s not a question of number, it’s how quickly the process is going on,” he said, adding: “I believe that at the end, if we continue working like this, most of the benchmarks will be met.”