International

Refugee laden boats continue to arrive Greece despite EU deal

Published

8 years ago

March 20, 2016

Refugee laden boats continue to arrive Greece despite EU deal

Hours after a deal aiming to cut off refugee routes to EU came into force, about five boats carrying Syrians arrived Greece from Turkey.

The arrival of the refugees who came in through the eastern Mediterranean Sea will now see them deported back to Turkey due to the recent deal between the EU and Turkey which has come into effect.

On arrival in Greece, Rola Hallak, a refugee from Aleppo who spoke to Al Jazeera said; “We endured four years of war, bombardment, rocket attacks…I don’t want to be sent back to Turkey because my father and two sisters are in Germany and I miss them.”

The majority of the refugees who arrived were from Syria, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from the Greek island of Lesbos, said.

Despite the fact that the EU deal has come into force, some of the refugees who managed to reach Europe’s shores were hopeful they would not be turned back.

“I don’t think they will reject us because we are coming from a destroyed city. We are asking for asylum on humanitarian grounds. Not only is there war in our country but the situation in Turkey is bad for us.” Ahmed, a refugee from Aleppo, told Al Jazeera upon his arrival in Lesbos.

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