Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/664411
ByDominique Soguel and Petros Giannakouris The Associated Press DIKILI, TURKEY Greece on Friday resumed deporta- tions of migrants to Tur- key after a four-day pause, despite mounting despera- tion among refugees and at- tempts by activists to stop the two boats from leaving Lesbos with 124 people on- board. Before the first boat left the island, four activists jumped into the sea to try to obstruct the operation — swimming to the front of the chartered ferry and grabbing the anchor chain — and were detained by the coast guard. The sec- ond boat made the journey without incident. One of the migrants, however, was refused by Turkey and sent back to Lesbos, Europe's Frontex border agency said. It did not elaborate on the reason. The EU-Turkey deal, which aims to deter illegal migration, has faced several setbacks and sharp criti- cism in its first week of im- plementation and has left many would-be migrants in limbo along the coast of Turkey. "There is no legal or ad- equate way for us to go to Europe so people are either waiting for the boats or turning back to Syria," says Mohammed, a Syrian who is stranded in the Turkish coastal town of Izmir. "Peo- ple are shocked and scared." Mohammed, who only gave his first name because he might decide to go back to his hometown which is under the control of the Is- lamic State group, says he told his family to stay put. "If any Syrian asked me today, 'should I make the journey?' I'd say go back and die in your land with honor," said the scrawny young man. "Europe wants you dead. Turkey wants you dead." The deportations on Fri- day followed the return of 202 migrants earlier this week under the EU-Turkey deal which aims to return migrants who don't apply for asylum from Greece to Turkey. In exchange, the EU will take in some Syr- ians directly from Turkey, provide funds for Ankara, visa-free travel for Turks and accelerated EU mem- bership talks. Officers from the Euro- pean Union's border pro- tection agency escorted the migrants to the boats on Lesbos. In the Turkish port of Dikili, health and migration officials checked the passengers amid heavy security before they were whisked onto police-es- corted buses heading to a deportation center in Kirklareli province, near the border with Bulgaria. Some 4,000 migrants who reached Greek islands from nearby Turkey after March 20 are being held in detention camps to be screened for deportation. But the returns have been held up by delays in pro- cessing asylum claims by overwhelmed Greek au- thorities who are also pre- paring to deal with applica- tions across the country by some 50,000 refugees who have been promised places in a slow-moving EU reloca- tion scheme. A Turkish official said his country was prepared to receive higher numbers with an array of 1,000 pro- fessionals ranging from doctors to migration offi- cials and police deployed in Dikili. The official, who spoke on condition of ano- nymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said that they had ex- pected to receive 2,050 mi- grants on Friday. REFUGEES Amid protests, Greece resumes deportations of migrants to Turkey SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 2016 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 3 B