Cultural geography

Amnesty International has revealed in a statement that according to reliable sources Turkey violated international and European laws by forcefully relocating asylum seekers back to Afghanistan.

Of 5130 beds for asylum seers in accommodation and reception centers across the country, around twenty percent are used as of March 22, the new refugee agency head has announced.

Petya Parvanova told private bTV broadcaster on Monday the capacity could be increased to 6000 in cases of emergency.

A court in the Black Sea city of Burgas has ruled an Iranian woman living in Bulgaria should be granted asylum.

The decision comes after the State Agency for Refugees (DAB) of the country had rejected the woman's asylum request.

As many as 3150 people applied for asylum in Bulgaria in the first two months of 2016, the  State Agency for Refugees has said.

Most of these were citizens of Iraq (1719), followed by Afghanistan (917) and Syria (359), Pakistan (94) and Iran (8).

The latest statistics come after weeks-long delays in publishing the data.

The European Commission made it clear that it would not give Turkey a ‘carte blanche’ on the refugee crisis. Timmermans outlined three core aspects associated with any EU agreement with Turkey on the refugee crisis. These were the political, technical and the legal facets, the main goal of which were to not make the situation in Idomeni refugee camp in Greece ‘the norm’, as he said.

According to the Serbian News agency Tanjug, Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner made another provocative statement regarding the refugee crisis, as she ‘advised’ the refugees in Greece to remain in the country. Leitner said that up till now FYROM had offered more to the stability of Europe than other EU member states, clearly implying the handling of the refugee crisis by Greece.

European Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas said the body’s legal department had judged the draft paper agreed upon by the EU28 and Turkey on the refugee crisis on March 7 as being compliant with EU laws.

Commenting on the refugee crisis and the closing off of the Western Balkan route, European Commission Spokesperson Margaritis Schinas said Thursday that unilateral actions by EU member states were unhelpful during the press briefing.

To prevent the refugee inflow to Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested the number of daily entries, which is now above 2,000, be decreased to three-digit figures. In other words, what Merkel wants is that a maximum number of 999 people should be allowed to enter Europe every day so that the Refugee Joint Action Plan can be applicable. 

 A record number of 1 255 600 first-time asylum seekers applied for international protection in member states of the EU last year, which is more than double increase compared to 2014.

This is revealed by the latest figures of Eurostat released on Friday,

The number of Syrians applying for asylum reached 362 800, which is a double increase compared to the previous year.