Migrants sent back from Greece to uncertain fate

In the seaside village of Dikili, locals stroll along a corniche, fishermen idly cast their lines into the crystal-clear water and pensioners play cards in an open-air teahouse. It is a typically idyllic scene on Turkey's Aegean coast.

But the mass of water that divides this village from the Greek island of Lesbos, a tiny outpost of the European Union so close that the outline of houses on its eastern shore are visible, has seen hundreds of Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans and others drown attempting the passage.

Now, many who have taken this deadly journey and thought they had reached the safety of Europe are being ferried back to Turkey.

On Monday, the pier in Dikili was swollen by the arrival of several hundred people returned from Lesbos as part of the controversial plan between Turkey and the EU that will see, for every refugee returned to Turkey, another resettled from Turkey to Europe.

As the boats arrived from Lesbos on Monday morning, protesters held signs demanding the EU stop the deportations. Two Syrians were among Monday’s groups of failed asylum seekers, carried on the 15km voyage by three Turkish vessels, though a spokesman for Frontex, the EU border management agency, said the figure may rise in the coming days and weeks.

“They will be processed at the port but after that we don’t know where they will go, where they will stay,” said a police officer guarding a security building in Dikili.

Pile of lifejackets

Behind the high gate and razor wire guarding the village’s tiny coast guard dock, a pile of lifejackets was thrown on the concrete, a sign that despite Monday’s deportations, others still try to reach Europe.

Among them are the countless number of Syrians gathered in hostels and parks in the Basmane district of Izmir, a city of three million residents 120km south of Dikili.

Ziad Shannan from Damascus was hoping his father's service to the British army in Palestine during the 1940s would help him secure a visa to London.

"The embassy must help me, I have all these documents," he said, unfolding 70-year-old slips of paper written by various British embassy staff in Beirut and Tel Aviv. He said he believed – incorrectly – that the Turkey-EU deal exempted Syrians from deportation from Greece.

In any case, Shannan was stuck. “I’ve been in Izmir for 20 days but spent all my money getting here,” he said from the steps of the Corakkapi mosque. “Istanbul was so expensive so I came here, and now I don’t have money to pay the smugglers. I need a secure future for my family – I can only do that in Europe.”

All strata of society

Syrians in central Izmir, where adult lifejackets are sold openly for 20 lira (€6) each, come from all strata of society. Young men wearing backpacks are asked if they want to “travel”. Tucked away in the dozens of hotels that sprung up last year to accommodate the thousands crossing to Greece are families eagerly awaiting a call telling them to prepare for a bus journey to the coast. Impeccably dressed Damascene families pulling expensive luggage behind them are here, too.

Qais Khudr is not from a wealthy family. Sitting on a bench bent over an old Nokia phone, he said he had spent the past three years in Turkey after fleeing his hometown of Raqqa where he was detained and tortured by Islamic State; he pulled up his sleeves to show the marks on his wrists to prove it.

"I know lots of smugglers but that's not much good when I have no money to pay them," he said. He expressed sorrow for what had become of Syria and said he would much prefer not to have to attempt to reach Europe. "We don't want anything from Europe; we don't want to go there. We want to go back home."

About 150,000 people have managed to cross from Turkey to Greece this year, with 400 drowning en route. In the wake of the March 18th Turkey-EU deal, the number of refugees arriving on Greek islands has fallen dramatically, according to Greek officials.

Turkey's Red Crescent says it plans to open camps in nearby provinces, though many of those being returned – so far mostly citizens of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan – are likely to later be deported to their home countries.