While Greek authorities are currently waiting for extra personnel to arrive in the country to help implement the EU-Turkey agreement, the deal has been widely condemned by human rights groups.
"Turkey simply is not a safe country yet […] to which refugees and migrants can be returned in full respect of their rights" and "to which it is legitimate and lawful" to send people seeking asylum, Director of Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia program John Dalhuisen told Radio Sputnik.
Dalhuisen argued that Ankara is likely to face serious difficulties dealing with the new wave of migrants, because apart from refugee status they should have "access to education" and "employment". Moreover, there are a number of reports according to which Turkey is said to be returning Syrian refugees to Syria and therefore can't be considered a safe country for them.
The main problem is that Ankara "simply does not have a functioning asylum system" and, therefore, will be unable to take care of refugees in a proper way, the expert argued.
Earlier, a group of Swedish lawyers questioned the legality of the Turkey-EU migration deal, claiming that asylum law does not allow returning people to an unsafe country, where they might be badly treated.
"Our extensive experience of Turkey is that people risk being exposed to such treatment. Considerable failings exist in the Turkish legal system, as well as the risk of not getting a fair trial," the lawyers claimed.
