Greece could start sending refugees back to Turkey from the start of next week after a controversial refugee deal was reportedly reached in Brussels.

Bohuslav Sobotka, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, tweeted from inside a meeting of 28 European leaders to say the proposals were going ahead on Friday afternoon.

“The deal with Turkey has been approved,” he wrote. “All illegal migrants who reach Greece from Turkey starting on 20 March will be returned.”

Juha Sipila, the Prime Minister of Finland, also said the deal was approved by all EU members.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu arrives on the second day of the European Union summit to discuss the ongoing refugee crisis, in Brussels on March 18, 2016. (AFP/Getty Images)

The agreement will not be official until it is signed by Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish Prime Minister.

Under the scheme, any asylum seekers arriving in Greece will be given a swift individual interview to determine whether they will be allowed to remain or sent back to Turkey.

Responding to heavy criticism from international humanitarian organisations, a spokesperson for European Council President Donald Tusk said that the agreement ensured that any removals would have to be “in full compliance with international and EU law” and that there would be no “collective expulsions”.

“The cut-off date is March 20 - that is on Sunday,” he added. “All migrants arriving after that cut-off date will be returned after individual assessment.”

The EU has agreed to safely resettle one Syrian refugee from camps in Turkey for each irregular migrant returned to the country, in a move aimed to discourage asylum seekers from paying huge sums to smugglers for treacherous sea crossings.

Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily.

The proposal also addresses Turkish concerns about the slow delivery of €3 billion (£2.3 billion) promised by the EU last November, by including a commitment to identify within the coming week a list of projects which will receive funding.

A further €3 billion is being made available after the initial funding runs out and the deal is also understood to promise visa liberalisation for Turkey's 75 million inhabitants within the Schengen area from this summer.

The EU has also agreed to “re-energise” its relations with Turkey by accelerating talks on eventual accession to the EU, which began in 2005 but have long been stalled.

European leaders have been accused of failing to censure the country alleged human rights abuses as negotiations on the refugee deal continued.

The talks continued in Brussels as dozens of activists, journalists and academics were detained in police raids and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for journalists, lawyers and politicians to be prosecuted as terrorists.

Turkish riot police use water cannon and tear gas to disperse supporters at Zaman daily newspaper headquarters in Istanbul. An Istanbul court ordered into administration a Turkish Zaman daily newspaper that is sharply critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, amid growing alarm over freedom of expression in the country

Civilians are reported to be among hundreds of people killed in a military crackdown on Kurdish areas of south-east Turkey, where militant groups have been fighting an insurgency for decades.

The violence has been accompanied by restrictions on press freedom and civil rights, seeing the Zaman newspaper taken over by the government, journalists, academics and activists arrested and protests crushed by riot police with tear gas and water cannons.

Human Rights Watch condemned the situation as a “new low” and said the proposed conditions put the “very principle of international protection for those fleeing war and persecution at stake”.

The plan has also been heavily criticised for singling out Syrian refugees, who make up roughly 40 per cent of arrivals in Europe, over Iraqis, Afghans and other groups needing protection.

There was widespread speculation that the deal could be scuppered by a veto from Cyprus, which is in continuing dispute with Turkey over the invasion of the island in 1974 and formation of the unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Refugees in Greece stranded as borders shut

But President Nicos Anastasiades said he was satisfied with the latest draft of the agreement and was happy to sign.

The Overseas Development Institute, which has conducted research on why refugees choose to migrate, warned that the deal is “unlikely to work” to stop the crisis.

Marta Foresti, the think-tank's Director of Governance and Security, said: “Our research shows refugees and migrants do not make the decision to leave their home lightly, are willing to take significant risks and will not be deterred by the policies and restrictions of EU countries.

“Those excluded from the deal will continue to try different, more dangerous routes if the border between Turkey and Greece is shut to them.

“The EU has failed to provide a humane or pragmatic response to the crisis, what is now needed is leadership at the global level.”