EU money is being used to forcibly deport migrants from Turkey. Since 2015, the EU has funneled over 11 billion euros to Turkey, ostensibly to help the country administer to and shelter the millions of Syrians who had crossed into the country seeking safety. This money– the largest amount of humanitarian spending in the history of the bloc– is instead being used to hunt down migrants, detain them in horrific conditions, and then forcibly push them back over the country’s borders.
A bombshell investigation by Lighthouse Reports, in collaboration with El País, Der Spiegel, Politico, Etilaat Roz, SIRAJ, NRC, L’Espresso and Le Monde found that EU taxpayer money has been used on the construction and maintenance of a system of deportations– from vans and busses that round up and deport migrants, to the erection of 14 removal camps and the barbed wire that lines them. The investigation details the hazardous unhygienic conditions of these camps, and the regular violence and torture migrants face inside.
Migrants described frequent beatings, medical treatments that made them sicker, and threats all conducted in sites with the EU logo emblazoned on it. Some even alleged they were forced to pay for milk stamped with the EU circle of stars. Migrants said they were pressured at threat of violence or with violence to sign “voluntary” deportation forms, and pushed back to countries the EU recognizes as unsafe for returns.
In August, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya bragged that Turkey had deported more than 160,000 migrants over the past 14 months.
The investigation further found that the European Commission repeatedly ignored warnings that the billions of euros were being used for these purposes.
The money the EU sends to Turkey is part of the bloc’s larger program of migrant deterrence. Beginning with the EU-Turkey deal in 2016, the European Union now has similar migration deals with Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Lebanon, promising money and support in exchange for these country’s work in deterring and preventing migrants from entering the EU. Investigations by other news outlets have found other human rights abuses funded with those chunks of E.U. money– such as the brutal Libyan detention centers run by militias.
