‘Like-minded countries’ hold mini-summit with Turkey

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will explore new possible ways to admit Syrian refugees to Europe at a mini-summit with Turkey, and several EU leaders of the ‘like-minded countries’ today (17 December), as she struggles to control a migrant crisis that has split the 28-nation bloc.

The mass influx of migrants will feature prominently on the agenda of a full European Union summit later on Thursday, after the European Commission proposed new security measures this week to stem the tide, including a common coastguard.

Merkel and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will meet Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu with several EU leaders beforehand. They will discuss taking in Syrians directly from Turkey under an additional scheme which member states would be able to join voluntarily.

The Minister of European Affairs of Turkey, Volkan Bozk?r, announced the meeting on 10 December, in a wide-ranging interview:

>>Read: Turkish EU minister: Cyprus referendum in March will be successful

Germany, by far the top destination for asylum seekers in Europe, has been the driving force behind the voluntary resettlement idea, saying it would help Turkey, as well as EU member states to have more control over who gets to Europe.

The idea for voluntary resettlement is linked to a wider deal with Turkey under which Ankara would prevent migrants leaving for Greece in return for financial aid from the bloc, accelerated visa-free travel for Turks to the EU, and reviving long-stalled membership talks.

The EU is at loggerheads over two distinct issues - relocation of migrants who have already arrived in Europe through Greece and Italy, and resettlement of a limited number directly from Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.

‘Like-minded countries’

The proposal, however, does not set a minimum number of refugees EU states would take from Turkey in the next five years and no formal decisions are expected when leaders of Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland, Sweden, Greece and the Netherlands meet Davuto?lu.

The same ‘like-minded’ countries held a similar mini-summit on 29 November, just ahead of the EU-Turkey summit which ended with a deal to stem the flow of refugees to Europe, coupled with an unfreezing of accession negotiations, and an initial €3 billion assistance package.

>>Read: EU and Turkey agree on €3 billion refugee deal

Merkel may also try to enlist the help of other leaders individually during the main summit, diplomats said. France and others could still decide to join the prior meeting, they added.

A draft final statement prepared by diplomats for the full EU summit said only that member states should "rapidly examine" proposals for a "voluntary humanitarian admission scheme".

Resettlement would be carried out by the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR. The Commission said the body is able to handle 80,000 cases globally a year - less than 10% of the number of migrants that have flooded into Europe in 2015.

The figure puts a clear cap on the scope of any such scheme.

Die Welt quoted Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann as saying Europe should be ready to take in 40,000 to 50,000 refugees from Turkey under the programme, provided Ankara delivers on the secure border commitment.

Some diplomats said the mechanism could also provide a way forward for central and eastern European member states including Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic who oppose obligatory quotas for relocating migrants agreed in September.

Of the 160,000 that EU member states agreed to take in from Italy and Greece, only around 200 had been relocated by mid-December, according to the Commission.

Resettlement is seen as a mechanism that could be easier for member states to accept and implement than relocation under mandatory quotas as it would give them more time to vet and choose candidates for asylum before receiving them.

A government source in Berlin said one option would be to deduct the number of people resettled under the voluntary scheme from each member state's mandatory relocation quota.

There are some 2.3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey now and the EU already has similar deals with Lebanon and Jordan, the two other countries hosting major camps for Syrians fleeing the war that is now in its fifth year.