Foreign Affairs

Europe Angry Turkey Is Hogging All The Smart Refugees

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German authorities are accusing Turkey of keeping educated refugees for itself and sending sick and uneducated ones to Europe.

About 2.7 million Syrian refugees are held up in Turkey hoping to gain entry to the European Union. EU has agreed to take 72,000 Syrians from Turkey as part of a deal struck in March, and Turkey is allegedly deciding which ones get to go based on their education level. (RELATED: Turkey Blackmails EU Into Refugee Deal)

A spokesman for Germany’s Ministry of the Interior Tuesday told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung more than 50 cases of Turkey refusing to grant exits to refugees have been detected in recent weeks, while 292 people have been granted exit permits since April. The ministry further said Turkey refuses to explain why these migrants were rejected.

A representative for Luxembourg accused Turkey of only sending “serious medical cases” during an EU meeting in May. A Turkish government official responded to the claims by saying it has the “right” to choose who gets to go.

Educated migrants are highly sought after as they can join the workforce quickly and cost little to resettle.

A large portion of Syrian refugees don’t meet international standards for basic reading and writing. Combined with the language barrier they face in most countries, the lack of education will make it hard for migrants to join the workforce, according to a Ludger Woessmann, a professor of economics at the University of Munich. (RELATED: 65 Percent Of Syrian refugees Can’t Read Or Write, Join Workforce)

“We have to prepare ourselves that the majority of young refugees will fail three-year training courses that contain a high level of theory,” Woessmann told magazine Zeit in December. “Seventy percent of trainees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq who started training two years ago have already dropped out.”

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