EU-Turkey Deal On Tackling Irregular Migration Continues To Bring Results - EU Envoy

The 2016 EU-Turkey deal aimed at stopping irregular migration continues to yield good results, Aleska Simkic, the deputy head of the EU delegation to Russia, said on Thursday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th September, 2018) The 2016 EU-Turkey deal aimed at stopping irregular migration continues to yield good results, Aleska Simkic, the deputy head of the EU delegation to Russia, said on Thursday.

"There was, as you know, an EU-Turkey bilateral statement which continues to deliver good results because the number of irregular and dangerous arrivals in the Eastern Mediterranean has decreased quite significantly," Simkic said at a panel session at the "Migration and International Law" conference in Moscow.

In March 2016, the European Union and Turkey unveiled a joint initiative to target irregular migration from Turkey to the EU member states and smuggling.

The sides agreed, among other matters, that Ankara would take any required measures to prevent the opening of new sea or land routes for irregular migration from Turkey to the European Union, according to the European Commission.

The statement on irregular migration followed the EU-Turkey Joint Action Plan that was activated in November 2015. The plan is aimed at stepping up cooperation to support Syrian refugees and prevent irregular migration flows to the European Union.