EU, Turkey finalise migrant return deal

EU member state leaders and Turkey have finalised a deal to try to halt the mass travel of migrants into Europe.

European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted that there was “unanimous” agreement over the deal between Turkey and the 28 EU leaders.

Under the scheme, which is applicable from midnight on Sunday, migrants arriving in Greece will be sent back to Turkey if their asylum claim is rejected.

EU countries will in return resettle thousands of Syrian migrants living in Turkey. The deal will also bring financial aid to Turkey and faster EU membership talks.

However, some of the initial concessions have been watered down and some EU members have expressed concern over Turkey's human rights record.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said it was a "historic" day.

"We today realised that Turkey and the EU have the same destiny, the same challenges and the same future,” he said.

However, Kate Allen from human rights group Amnesty International said it's absolutely shameful to see leaders seeking to abandon their legal obligations".

Over million migrants and refugees have entered the EU by boat from Turkey to Greece since January 2015. More than 132,000 have arrived in 2016 alone.

Tens of thousands of asylum seekers are now stuck in Greece as their route north has been blocked.

Greek Interior Minister Panagiotis Kouroublis has warned that conditions at the Idomeni camp, on the border with Macedonia, are similar to those at a Nazi concentration camp.