Turkey may need more money for migrants, Slovenian minister says

The European Union may have to give Turkey more than the 6 billion euros ($6.8 billion) it promised as part of a deal to halt illegal migration to Europe, Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec said on Wednesday.

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The controversial EU-Turkey deal reached two weeks ago aims to close the main route by which a million migrants and refugees have come across the Aegean Sea to Greece in the last year before marching north to Germany and Sweden.

The EU promised to accelerate the disbursement of 3 billion euros already pledged in support of refugees in Turkey and to provide a further 3 billion by 2018.

"I believe that the money planned for migration management will not be sufficient. This is just the first step, but it is important that the agreement is yielding results," Erjavec told a joint news conference with visiting Turkish European Affairs Minister Volkan Bozkir.

Under the pact, Ankara will take back all migrants and refugees, including Syrians, who cross to Greece illegally by sea. In return, the EU has agreed to take in thousands of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey.
Five days before Turkey is due to start taking back illegal migrants, uncertainty remains over how it will be implemented.
Bozkir said Turkey would place returning migrants in existing camps and migrant centers from which the same number of Syrian migrants would then be sent to the EU.

The EU will not be able to select migrants and both skilled and unskilled migrants will be sent to the EU, Bozkir said.

He said Turkey would attempt to return migrants to their country of origin, such as Pakistan, with which Turkey has a readmission agreement. However, migrants that would be under threat in their home country would not be returned.

"If not (returned) they will be kept in Turkey in centers for these people established in 16 cities," said Bozkir. He gave no details of how many migrants could be returned to Turkey next week.