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Image: Migrants are escorted by Turkish police and local officials as they arrive by ferry at the Dikili harbour in Izmir

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First Group of Migrants Deported From Greece Land in Turkey

Greece sent the first wave of migrants to Turkey on Monday under an EU deal that has faced heavy criticism from rights groups.

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Image: A boat carrying migrants arrives in the Turkish coastal town of Dikili

A boat carrying migrants arrives in Dikili, a Turkish coastal town, on April 4, 2016.

Around 130 migrants — mostly from Pakistan and Bangladesh — boarded two ferries at dawn from the Greek island of Lesbos and traveled to Dikili, according to NBC's U.K. partner ITV News, as part of a contentious plan shrouded in protests.

— MURAD SEZER / Reuters
Image: Migrants are escorted by Turkish police and local officials as they arrive by ferry at the Dikili harbour in Izmir

Migrants are escorted by Turkish police and local officials as they arrive by ferry at the Dikili harbor in Izmir, Turkey.

 

— TOLGA BOZOGLU / EPA
Image: Migrants on a bus before boarding a Turkish-flagged passenger boat to be returned to Turkey, on the Greek island of Lesbos

Migrants sit on a bus before boarding a Turkish-flagged passenger boat to be returned to Turkey, on the Greek island of Lesbos.

— GIORGOS MOUTAFIS / Reuters
Image: A Frontex officer takes a picture as migrants board a Turkish-flagged passenger boat to be returned to Turkey

A female border agency officer takes a picture as migrants board a boat to be returned to Turkey.

Under the deal, Turkey agreed to take back migrants that had made it to Europe from its shores. In exchange, the EU agreed to settle thousands of Syrians already in Turkey — one for each Syrian Turkey takes back from the Greek Islands.

— GIORGOS MOUTAFIS / Reuters
Image: Greece begins deportation of migrants to Turkey

A banner reading 'Turkey is not Safe' hangs from a hotel as migrants are escorted by EU border agency officers to ferries in Mytilene, on the Greek island of Lesbos.

— ORESTIS PANAGIOTOU / EPA
Image:A migrant is escorted by Frontex officials as he embarks on a Turkish catamaran to be sent back to Turkey

A migrant is escorted by EU border agency officials as he embarks on a Turkish catamaran to be sent back to Turkey.

— LOUISA GOULIAMAKI / AFP - Getty Images
Image:A migrant (C, back) is escorted by a Frontex officer into a ferry, in the port of Mytilene, Lesbos Island, Greece

A migrant, center in back, is escorted by an EU border agency officer into a ferry, in Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos.

The European Union's deal with Turkey has been condemned as illogical, if not illegal, by rights groups since its inception. The United Nations has warned the agreement lacks legal safeguards and Amnesty International called it "alarmingly short-sighted and inhumane."

— ORESTIS PANAGIOTOU / EPA
Image: A Turkish officer registers a deported migrant from Greece after arrival at the port of Dikili district in Izmir

A Turkish officer registers a deported migrant from Greece after arrival at Dikili in Izmir, Turkey.

— OZAN KOSE / AFP - Getty Images
Image: A Greek ferry carrying migrants back to Turkey from the Greek island of Lesbos arrives at Dikili Harbour in Izmir, Turkey

A Greek ferry carrying migrants arrives at Dikili.

— TOLGA BOZOGLU / EPA
Image: Activists hold banners as they protest against the return of migrants to Turkey, at the port of Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos

Activists hold banners as they protest against the return of migrants to Turkey, in Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Read: Refugees, Migrants Deported From Greece, Land in Turkey Under EU Deal

— GIORGOS MOUTAFIS / Reuters
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