European official visits Turkish refugee center

EDIRNE, Turkey (AA) - The Council of Europe’s special representative for refugees visited a repatriation center in northwest Turkey on Tuesday.

Tomas Bocek’s fact-finding mission is to explore ways the council can assist Turkey in dealing with around 2.8 million refugees.

Following a visit to the center in Edirne, Turkish province bordering Greece and Bulgaria, he said: “Turkey is home to millions of refugees. It is a very hard situation that is not easy to tackle.

“I am sure the Turkish authorities put serious efforts on it. There is still something to mend. We are here for this. We look for what we can contribute.”

Addressing journalists, Bocek said his delegation would also examine potential human rights abuses before reporting on the situation for refugees in Turkey.

In April, a deal between Turkey and the EU came into force that paved the way for the return of failed asylum seekers to Turkey from the EU in a one-for-one deal that would see Syrian refugees resettled in the EU.

Bocek’s visit will last until June 4 and will see him visit sites around Istanbul and the Aegean coast. In March, he visited Greece and Macedonia.