Turkey migrant smuggling business hit by EU deal

The Turkish villagers had grown used to hearing the smugglers arrive in the dead of night, speeding through the narrow streets in minibuses packed with Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans headed for the rocky coves nearby.

"Before the EU agreement there were hundreds of refugees crossing the sea here," said 50-year-old fisherman Hasan Balc? as he played cards in a cafe. "But now there are none."
Outside the small village of Bademli on the Turkish coast lie the turquoise waters of the Aegean Sea, with the Greek island of Lesbos visible on the horizon just 10 kilometers away.

But with many migrants and refugees now fearing they will be sent straight back, even if they succeed in making the dangerous crossing, the dream of a new life in Europe is starting to slip out of sight.

Locals at other well-known launching points along the coast - from Küçükkuyu, opposite northern Lesbos, to Çe?me further south, opposite the island of Chios - say that in recent days migrants have simply vanished from the streets.  

Before the deal between Turkey and the EU to send back all irregular migrants landing in Greece took effect on March 20, the "little Syria" district of Basmane in Izmir had been full of new arrivals.

Migrants would pay people smugglers up to $1,200 (1,070 euros) each to arrange transportation to Greece.
Cafe owners now point to empty tables, where migrants and smugglers used to negotiate a price for the crossing.

"Now it's finished," said one of many shopkeepers who had a lucrative sideline in selling life jackets, samples of which still hang alongside suits and jackets at the front of his store. 

Assam, an 18-year-old refugee from Damascus, whose parents are both dead, has been living in ?zmir for six...