Situation during the visit A/HRC/33/51/Add.1 Measures taken/current situation Level of implementation and observations (to be completed by the WGEID) have been repeatedly stating that the EU-Turkey Deal is undermining human rights and Europe’s fundamental principles. The essence of the “deal” is for Turkey to accept back every refugee that reaches the Greek Islands from Turkey, in exchange for liberalization of the visa policy on the part of the EU and 6 billion euro in aid to Turkey to use for ensuring proper reception conditions for refugees. The European Commission and many EU Member State governments still present the EU-Turkey Deal as a success, measuring success only by the drop in numbers of people managing to reach Europe via the Aegean Sea route. instruments ratified by Turkey, in particular CAT (Article 3) and the 1951 Convention on the status of refugees (Article 33). Likewise, the principle of non-refoulement is universally recognized as a principle of international customary law and, as such, constitutes an indispensable component of the customary prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment. Currently, hundreds of Syrians have reportedly been deported from Turkey to Syria following the recent government crackdown on unregistered refugees, while the Turkish authorities cannot guarantee effective access to registration of protection applications. Many of the deportees have reportedly been transported to the Turkey-Syria border near Idlib. Syrian refugees and migrants of other nationalities have also been detained by the Turkish authorities in view of removal. Public opinion in Turkey towards Syrian refugees has been hardening since Turkey’s recent local elections, which featured prominent anti-Syrian rhetoric, also seen in the context of Turkey’s ongoing economic crisis. JWF – IAHRA Geneva Turkey is currently hosting one of the largest refugee populations in the world, with some 3.65 million Syrians under a “temporary protection” status, which the Turkish authorities say automatically applies to all Syrians seeking asylum. Turkey is bound by the international customary law of non-refoulement, which prohibits the return of anyone to a place where they would face a real risk of persecution, torture or other ill-treatment, or a threat to life. Turkey is a also a State party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights. These important instruments prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, inhuman and degrading treatment, as well as enforced disappearances. Turkey also may not use violence or the threat of violence or detention to coerce A/HRC/45/13/Add.4 56 Recommendations A/HRC/33/51/Add.1