Greece and the European Migrant Crisis

As European Union(EU) leaders press Turkey to accept back migrants deported from Europe, they are also insisting that Turkey adheres to fundamental democratic rights and freedom of expression in the aftermath of the government seizure of a newspaper that criticized the Turkish government. 

Hence, the significance of Greece as a major and as a pivotal partner to diffusing the current European migrant crisis, becomes more apparent, and especially more so should Turkey, offered more relief to accept back deported migrants from Europe, fails to cooperate.

Greece stands as the gateway to Europe for most migrants arriving from Turkey. Therefore, it is within Greece that logistical infrastructures could be established as a means to the humanitarian resettlement of Europe's new people. It is within Greece and not in Turkey that the allocation of migrants to EU nations could be done. Last September, EU partners agreed to share 160,000 refugees arriving in Greece and Italy over two years. Yet, according to an Associated Press(AP) report earlier today, fewer than 700 refugees had been relocated to other European nations by March 3. Moreover, some 14,000 migrants now sit in Greece faced with closed borders elsewhere.

Obviously, circumstances involving the influx of migrants to Europe, place Greece at the epicenter. Therefore Greece's EU partners should provide enough relief to Greece to act as a processing and allocating center for migrants. And Turkey, which houses some 2.75 million refugees, should always be consulted toward alleviating the migrant crisis.