Migrant Crisis News: EU to Give More Financial Aid to Turkish Camps as 300 Million More Migrants Expected to Leave Syria
With the ongoing crisis in handling migrants crossing into Turkey before landing into European Union (EU) states, the European Commission said it would be adding new incentives to the aid program for refugee camps in Turkey to help lessen the burdens.
Along with the additional financial assistance to be offered, the EU will also loosen the bands on visa restrictions to help the immigrants have more qualifying rights in their asylum applications.
While the action plan is awaiting reception from Turkey, it does not address some requests made by the country's president. On the other hand, the EU insists that the plan would "strengthen its capacity to combat migrant smuggling," addressing the issues that many of the migrants are engaged in smuggling.
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Earlier this week, European Council President Donald Tusk said that 3 million more Syrians could leave their country and head toward Europe from Aleppo and other surrounding areas, as estimated by Ankara.
According to The Associated Press, Tusk said at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, "Today millions of potential refugees and migrants are dreaming about Europe." He added that many other countries surrounding Europe are celebrating the crisis that it is faced with.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and several EU heads have agreed to come up with a final action plan for Turkey's crisis, while the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the organization has not received any report that more people are fleeing war and violence in Syria, noting that Tusk's statements were merely "speculative" and had no solid proof just yet.
Meanwhile, BBC reports that Australian Chancellor Werner Faymann paid a visit to the Greek island of Lesbos to have a firsthand look at the crisis' impact on one of the main entry points that asylum seekers use to get into the EU.
In the midst of all the chaos, almost 100 migrants are reported to have died in the Mediterranean seas off the coast of Libya since Sunday, according to the IOM. While the report has not been confirmed by the Libyan Red Crescent, the news has become another sad saga in the growing crisis that war and bloodshed brought forth.
