The EU-Türkiye Deal and the Eastern Mediterranean Route: A Succes or A Failure

Abstract

The Mediterranean region saw an unprecedented surge in mixed migration flows and the provision of migrant smuggling services in 2015. Over a million migrants and asylum seekers arrived in Europe that year, with more than 80 percent of them crossing the Aegean Sea from Türkiye to Greek islands. In Europe, the influx of unwanted “others” through mass migration has instilled fears at both societal and political levels. Despite the persistent migratory pressure, the European Union (EU) has struggled to devise adequate solutions to regulate the large numbers of refugees, particularly by curtailing irregular migration, human smuggling, and trafficking. In an attempt to deal with irregular migratory flows, the externalization of borders introduces new spatial dimensions for the EU's immediate neighbours, such as Türkiye. The key policy instruments for Türkiye facilitating this externalization process include the 2013 Readmission Agreement, the 2015 Joint Action Plan, and the EU-Türkiye Deal of 18 March 2016. At this background, the aim of this article is to understand the effectiveness of the EU-Türkiye Deal in mitigating irregular border crossings along the Eastern Mediterranean Route. The paper concludes that migration governance strategies implemented in response to the Syrian crisis have introduced new challenges for both Türkiye and the EU.