This week EU leaders and Turkey are mulling a framework deal to stem the flow of refugees arriving on European shores. Ankara is being asked to abide by a number of measures to urge more of the two million Syrian refugees living in the country to stay. In exchange, the EU is offering a number of incentives—more aid money, more legal paths of migration and visa-free travel to the EU for Turkish citizens, to name a few.
But the plan is a long way from finalization and details are still pretty blurry. No one's figured out yet, for example, how to make sure both Ankara and the EU follow through.
Here's what the EU wants from Turkey.
1. Refugees pathway to work and public services. Syrians living outside Turkey's refugee camps can’t legally work, pushing more into the informal sector. And while recent policy changes has allowed more Syrians access to education and healthcare, anecdotal evidence suggests plenty are still not getting admitted to school.
2. Revamp how Syrians are processed in the first place. Until recently, Turkey was processing incoming Syrians as guests instead of refugees, meaning only short-term protection and few services. The government now gives Syrians partial refugee status, but the EU deal wants Ankara to grant full protection.
3. New, harsher visa requirements for incoming foreigners. Another EU request aims to change Turkey's lax visa requirements, which currently allow most Arab citizens to arrive in country without much processing beforehand, presumably making it much easier to fly to Istanbul and head Europe.
4. A crackdown on smugglers and reacceptance of rejected asylum seekers. Turkey's long been criticized for maintaining a porous border with Syria, aiding the flow of militants and smuggling networks. The EU agreement wants Ankara to crackdown on operations both there and off its coast, but authorities have so far done little to curtail the booming smuggling trade.
