EU and Turkish leaders have sunk to new low, says human rights group

“The idea of bartering refugees for refugees is not only dangerously dehumanising, but also offers no sustainable long term solution to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.”

The human rights group also expressed concerns regarding the proposal that Turkey be designated as a ‘safe third country’.

“Turkey has forcibly returned refugees to Syria and many refugees in the country live in desperate conditions without adequate housing,” said Colm O’Gorman.

“Hundreds of thousands of refugee children cannot access formal education. By no stretch of imagination can Turkey be considered a ‘safe third country’ that the EU can cosily outsource its obligations to.

“Iraqi and Afghan nationals, along with Syrians, make up around 90% of arrivals to Greece

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“Sending them back to Turkey knowing their strong claim to international protection will most likely never be heard reveals EU claims to respect refugees’ human rights as hollow words.”

Earlier: European Union leaders have hailed a potential breakthrough in talks with Turkey aimed at stemming the flow of migrants streaming into the continent.

Negotiations in Brussels broke up after more than 12 hours of discussions without a final agreement.

However, leaders said a Turkish proposal to return all migrants who make it across the Aegean to Greece could provide the basis of a settlement that would finally close the refugee trail through the Balkans.

In return for taking back the refugees, Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu wants the EU to resettle an equal number of Syrian refugees direct from his country.

He also called for a doubling of EU aid to support the more than 2.5 million refugees in Turkey as well as faster progress on easing visa restrictions on Turkish nationals and talks on Turkey's application for EU membership.

European Council president Donald Tusk described the talks as the "most promising moment" in the effort to find a way of deterring migrants - many fleeing the conflict in Syria - making the perilous sea crossing to Europe.

"All of us are aware that in fact we have a breakthrough now. The new proposal of our Turkish friend is a real chance to make progress in all aspects of our joint venture," he said.

EU leaders will resume discussions on the proposals when they meet again in the Belgian capital for further summit talks later this month.

Mr Davutoglu - who brought a more ambitious than expected set of proposals to the meeting - stressed that they had to be treated as a "package" if there was to be a deal.

"This is a humanitarian process helping refugees but at the same time it is a strategic issue for us that Turkey will be admitted to the EU," he said.

There was widespread agreement that more money would need to be found to help the Turks cope with the more than 2.5 million migrants currently in the country.

German chancellor Angela Merkel said: "A further €3bn will be needed at the request of Turkey. We said in principle that this was a welcome approach."

British sources also indicated support for additional funding - provided the new arrangements were shown to be working..

"If that system is working, we will look at that. We will not turn the tap off," one source said.