Turkey builds refugee 'processing points' as EU deal set to come into force

Turkish authorities on Saturday raced to set up reception centres to process Syrian and other refugees two days ahead of the implementation of a hugely controversial deal with the EU for them to be sent back from Greece to Turkish soil.

Turkey is due to start receiving refugees migrants who crossed the Aegean Sea for EU member Greece from Monday but so far details have been vague over how the transfer will be implemented.

Work has now started on a centre in the major Aegean tourist resort of Cesme in Izmir province, which faces the Greek island of Chios that has been a major target for refugees and migrants, the town's mayor said on Saturday.

Local officials in Dikili, also in Izmir province on the Aegean and facing the Greek island of Lesbos - have said a readmission centre is being established in their town.

Water pipes and electricity cables are being laid for the 500 square-metre area by the Ulusoy harbour in Cesme, mayor Muhittin Dalgic was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency.

The centre will have tents for finger-printing and registering refugees and migrants as well as sanitation facilities, he said.

But Turkish officials said such centres were not refugee camps but processing points from which the refugees and migrants will be sent elsewhere as soon as possible.

"Once the health checks and registration is done for the migrants, they will be sent on to camps," Dalgic was quoted as saying. "We intend to complete this work with them staying for as short a time as possible."

There have been fears in Turkey's fashionable Aegean resorts that a sudden influx of refugees and migrants could prompt a backlash from locals and put off tourists.

Hazy transfer details

It remains to be seen how the initial transfers will proceed. Pictures broadcast by NTV television on Friday showed only a barren space at the site of the proposed Dikili centre.

The Milliyet daily carried a report on Saturday saying that as the Dikili centre was not finished, initial registrations on Monday would take part in indoor sports arenas in the town.

Greek news agency ANA meanwhile reported that some 750 people will be sent from Lesbos to Dikili between Monday and Wednesday on board two Turkish vessels chartered by EU border guards agency Frontex.

"Planning is in progress," Yiorgos Kyritsis, spokesman for Greece's refugee coordination unit, told AFP, while declining to comment further.

Turkish media reports meanwhile have said the Turkish Red Crescent is preparing to open a new refugee camp with capacity for 5,000 people further inland in Manisa in western Turkey - its first outside the south and east of the country - to accommodate the new influx.

Turkish and EU leaders in March agreed the deal for curbing the influx of refugees and migrants that has plunged Europe into its biggest migration crisis since the end of World War II.

Turkey, which is hosting some 2.7 million Syrian refugees, will allow one Syrian to migrate to Europe in exchange for every one it takes back.

Germany said on Friday it will take in the first Syrian refugees and interior ministry spokesman Tobias Plate said that most of the arrivals expected on Monday would be families with children.

The deal was approved by the Greek parliament in a vote on Friday.

But the terms of the deal have sparked fierce debate, with Amnesty International saying on Friday that Turkey could no longer be trusted as a "safe country" for refugees.

It accused Turkey of returning Syrian refugees to Syria against their will and said the deal with the EU had "fatal flaws".

Turkey on Saturday vehemently rejected Amnesty's accusations that it was forcibly returning Syrian refugees to the conflict-torn country.

"The allegations do not reflect reality in any way," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "It is sad that this kind of news was shared with the public [by the media] in such an intense way," it added.

The ministry said there was "no change" in the open-door policy that for the last years has allowed any Syrian fleeing the civil war there to seek refuge in the country.

"Turkey is committed to continue to provide protection to Syrians fleeing violence and instability under its international obligations," it added.

According to the International Organization for Migration, 151,104 migrants crossed the Aegean from Turkey to Greece this year alone and 366 drowned during the perilous trip.