Greece sends first batch of refugees back in EU-Turkey deal

Baku. 4 April. REPORT.AZ/ Greek authorities are gearing up to send hundreds of failed asylum seekers back to Turkey, which is racing to set up reception centres under a controversial EU deal.

Report informs citing the foreign media, some 750 migrants are set to be sent back between Monday and Wednesday, Greek state news agency ANA said, the first wave of deportations under the much-criticised agreement struck last month.

All irregular migrants now face being sent back from the Greek islands to Turkey, as Europe grapples with its worst migration crisis since World War II.

Greece has been struggling to get the infrastructure in place under its side of the deal, which has been met with scepticism by EU members like Austria, while the United Nations argues it is illegal.

“Planning is in progress,” Yiorgos Kyritsis, spokesman for Greece’s refugee coordination unit.