140000 refugees made their way to Europe in November

The EU has identified cooperation with Turkey as the key to tackling the crisis and on Sunday sealed a multi-billion-euro deal with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to do so, as The World Weekly examines. The EU is also discussing plans for resettling hundreds of thousands of refugees from Turkey in the future.

Ayvacik is a main crossing point to the Greek island of Lesbos, where about 425,000 people have arrived in Lesbos in smuggling boats this year, according to United Nations statistics.

The EU accepted to pay €3 billion for the refugees living in Turkey and to re-open accession talks, in exchange for a Turkish promise to act against migrant trafficking.

Four suspected smugglers were also detained in the sweep while four migrant boats and six boat motors were seized.

In December 2013 Turkey and the European Union agreed on a readmission process that would require the repatriation of third-country nationals who illegally migrated to Europe via Turkey back to Turkey in return for the initiation of a visa liberalization dialogue.

They were put into buses and taken to a small, overcrowded detention centre for foreigners awaiting deportation.

He said he fears that “Turkey will engage in abuses to prevent people from traveling onwards to Europe, and thereby prevent people from accessing protections”, he said, adding the deal does not call for the improved treatment of refugees.

Most migrants who make it to Greece from Turkey attempt to continue their journeys along the so-called Balkan migrant trail in the hope of reaching countries in Central or Northern Europe.

Irregular migrants to Europe should be detained for as long as needed to check their identity and if need be up to the 18 months allowed by global law, European Council President Donald Tusk said.

Anadolu said the migrants were from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.

But several countries on that trail have tightened their borders or have built fences to keep migrants out.