Greece, Turkey take legal short-cuts in race to return migrants

A Syrian refugee carries her daughter before boarding a bus heading to other parts of the country where refugees and migrants will be accommodated, at the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece March 31, 2016. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

BRUSSELS/ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece and Turkey are rushing through changes to their asylum rules in a race to implement a EU-Turkey agreement on the return of refugees and migrants from Greek islands to Turkey from next Monday, EU officials and diplomats said.

Both Athens and Ankara must amend their legislation to permit the start of a scheme - denounced by the U.N. refugee agency and rights groups - to send back all migrants who crossed to Greece after March 20.