Netherlands – ESI meetings and presentations on the current state of the implementation of the EU-Turkey Agreement

7 September 2016

ESI's Gerald Knaus went to the Netherlands for several meetings and presentations on the refugee crisis.

On 7 September he participated in a public debate organised by De Balie in Amsterdam. The other participants were Eduard Nazarski, Director of Amnesty International in the Netherlands, Fransje Molenaar, Clingendael Research Fellow, and Kati Piri, MEP for the PvdA. The event was moderated by Marcia Luyten. Gerald pointed to the fact that fewer people arrive in Greece and that the number of drowned refugees has declined significantly. He said that the deal can work if Greece quickly processes migrants, if Turkey improves its asylum system and if the EU helps with resettlement.

On 8 September, Gerald met with Diederik Samsom, leader of the Dutch Labour Party, and gave a presentation at the Dutch Ministry of Justice in The Hague on the state of play of the EU-Turkey Agreement.

On 9 September, Gerald gave a presentation on "The EU-Turkey deal, its consequences and the future of the deal" at the annual meeting of the Meijers Committee in Hilversum. The committee convenes professors, judges, attorneys and legal researchers with expertise in European asylum, migration, criminal, privacy and constitutional law.