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What the people-smugglers of Istanbul make of the EU’s deal with Turkey

Not much. Greece is an hour away, and the Turkish coastguards do nothing to deter migrants from making the crossing

19 March 2016

9:00 AM

19 March 2016

9:00 AM

 Istanbul

Shops in a rundown neighbourhood sell fake life jackets to refugees planning to brave the Aegean Sea. Last year, nearly 4,000 refugees died trying to make this journey. ‘But what am I to do?’ says Erkan, a shopkeeper, as he pushes me out of his shop. ‘I tell them they are fake but the poor souls continue to buy them.

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