Refugees and migrants wave as they approach the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos on a dinghy during sunrise, March 20, 2016. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
Reuters: EU-Turkey deal fails to stem refugee flight to Greece
They waved, cheered and smiled, elated to have made it to Europe at dawn on Sunday in a packed blue rubber motor boat.
The 50 or so refugees and migrants were among the first to arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos on day one after an EU deal with Turkey designed to close the route by which a million people crossed the Aegean Sea to Greece in 2015.
Exhausted but relieved, the new arrivals wrapped their wet feet in thermal blankets as volunteers handed out dry clothes and supplies.
Reuters witnesses saw three boats arrive within an hour in darkness in the early hours of Sunday. Two men were pulled out unconscious from one of the boats amid the screams of fellow passengers and were later pronounced dead.
Twelve boats had arrived on the shoreline near the airport by 6 a.m. (0400 GMT), a police official said.
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Update #1: Greeks say they STILL cannot deport migrants back to Turkey despite new EU deal to return them as desperate thousands try to beat the deadline (Daily Mail)
Update #2: EU-Turkey deal on turning back migrants appears in limbo (AP)
WNU Editor: My guess is that the EU was hoping that by caving in to Turkish demands, Turkey would then act to stop the migrant networks and to arrest the human smugglers. Nothing of the sort is happening, and I am willing to wager that they will in fact use this agreement to empty out their refugee population onto Europe. The only way to stop this migration crisis is for leaders like Angela Merkel to reverse their "open border" policy .... but even though they have suffered losses at the polls on this issue, Angela Merkel has made it clear that she will not do so.
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