[TheGuardian] The EU is preparing to scale back the number of Syrian refugees offered resettlement in Europe, as part of a controversial pact being drawn up with Turkey. The bloc’s 28 leaders will hold a summit in Brussels on Thursday, before a meeting the Turkish prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, on Friday, to hammer out the final details of a plan aimed at stemming the flow of refugees and migrants coming to Europe.More than 1.1 million refugees and migrants came to Europe in 2015, including around 363,000 Syrians who lodged asylum applications, while 143,634 people have arrived in Greece from Turkey this year so far, according to figures from the UN high commissioner for
The EU has pledged to resettle Syrian refugees currently in Turkey, but figures that emerged on Wednesday suggested only 72,000 places would be available, with uncertainty about the bloc’s commitment beyond this number.