A man sits by a fire at a makeshift camp set by migrants and refugees at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni | Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images Commission scolds EU countries for not paying into refugee fund Progress report looks at the EU-Turkey deal by the numbers.

Twelve countries have contributed nothing so far to the €3 billion EU-Turkey deal, according to a European Commission report published Wednesday.

Belgium, Austria, Poland, Lithuania, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Malta and Spain are yet to make payments into the fund for humanitarian assistance to refugees in Turkey, and "should now do so," said the report, a copy of which was seen by POLITICO.

One month after EU leaders agreed on a refugee deal with Turkey and some two weeks after it started to be implemented, the Commission paints a mixed picture of progress made. "There is no scope for complacency particularly as one of the most challenging elements – the daily operation of the actual return and resettlement processes in full compliance with EU and international rules – is still ahead," the report said.

In a press conference after the report was published, Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European commissioner for migration, said the deal was important for both the EU and Turkey, countering comments made Tuesday by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that the EU needs Turkey more than Ankara needs the union.

“We both need each other the same,” Avramopoulos said, adding that he believed Ankara would meet most of the criteria required for visa liberalization for Turks traveling in the EU — one of its demands in exchange for stemming the flow of refugees.

The deal foresees that all migrants arriving on Greek islands from Turkey will be sent back. For every Syrian brought back to Turkey, EU countries have agreed to take on one other Syrian directly from Turkey. The agreement is intended as "a strong signal towards migrants that getting on a boat in Turkey, and endangering lives in the process, is not the right way to come to Europe."

In its progress report, the Commission claims this deterrent appears to be working: "Smugglers are finding it increasingly difficult to induce migrants to cross from Turkey to Greece." In the three weeks before the deal came into force, 26,878 migrants arrived on the islands; since April 4, there have been only 5,847 irregular arrivals.

Still, the process is far from smooth. Some 325 migrants who came after the deadline have been returned, including "240 Pakistanis, 42 Afghanis, 10 Iranians, 7 Indians, 5 Bangladeshis, 5 Iraqis, 5 Congolese, 4 Sri Lankans, 2 Syrians, 1 Somalian, 1 Ivorian, 1 Moroccan, 1 Egyptian, 1 Palestinian," according to the report.

The detailed list is meant to show that most migrants coming from countries regarded as safe under EU asylum laws have been sent back.

Migrants who apply for asylum in Greece are permitted to stay in the country while their application is processed. "Faced with the prospect of rapid return to Turkey, the number of asylum applications has risen in the past two weeks during which 1,405 asylum applications were lodged in Greece", the report said, calling for an acceleration of the processes – and, again, for EU countries to deliver on their pledges to send police staff and asylum experts to assist Greece.

Frontex, the EU's border agency, had asked for 1,550 additional personnel under the EU-Turkey-deal. It received pledges for half that number. Some 340 have already been deployed to Greek islands by other EU countries. The EU's asylum agency EASO still needs more than 300 interpreters. The Commission insists that the governments should "increase their commitments and accelerate their performance."

Jacopo Barigazzi contributed to this article.

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