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Greek Appeals Committee Scraps Syrian Refugee Deportation Order

© REUTERS / Marko DjuricaPeople queue for free food at a makeshift camp for migrants and refugees at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, Greece, May 11, 2016.
People queue for free food at a makeshift camp for migrants and refugees at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, Greece, May 11, 2016. - Sputnik International
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An appeals committee of the Greek asylum service ruled on Friday against returning a Syrian refugee to Turkey over concerns that his rights would not be properly upheld, media reported.

Migrants and uninsured Greek residents wait to be received at a Doctors of the World (MDM) medical center in Athens on July 2, 2015. - Sputnik International
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The ruling has challenged the two-month-old pact between the European Union and Turkey that requires Ankara to take back undocumented migrants coming ashore in Greece. Brussels said Turkey was able to guarantee refugee rights.

"The committee has judged that the temporary protection which could be offered by Turkey to the applicant, as a Syrian citizen, does not offer him rights equivalent to those required by the Geneva convention," the committee said in a document seen by The Guardian newspaper.

In March, Brussels and Ankara agreed on a deal under which Turkey pledged to take back all undocumented migrants who arrive in the European Union through its territory in exchange for Syrian refugees accommodated in Turkey, on a one-for-one basis. In return, the 28-member bloc pledged to accelerate the Turkish EU accession bid and introduce a visa-free regime between Turkey and the Schengen area.

The EU-proposed migrant cooperation deal claimed that in certain circumstances an expedited procedure of repatriation was legal. The Geek decision contradicts this and can potentially create a precedent for similar appeals from thousands of migrants held in shelters on Greek islands.

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