EU offers to ease Turkey migrant burden

The EU has offered Turkey a plan under which it would resettle more refugees, but only if Ankara establishes new camps and boosts its coastguard to slow the flow of people to Europe, officials said Tuesday.

Brussels is also ready to give Turkey more money to deal with the burden of 2.2 million refugees under a plan European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker presented to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday.

EU officials will follow up with a visit to Turkey on Wednesday as they try to finalise the proposals and Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos will travel there next week.

Turkey is the main gateway for migrants coming to Europe, with most making the short but dangerous sea crossing to Greece. 

Brussels has repeatedly urged Ankara to do more to prevent them leaving.

EU President Donald Tusk, who has led calls to better secure Europe's external borders, said that according to Turkish estimates, another three million potential refugees may yet arrive from the Syrian city of Aleppo and surrounding areas.

Under the "draft action plan" -- which Turkey has not yet formally approved -- the EU will offer Turkey a series of incentives in return for its help in tackling the worst crisis of its kind since World War II.