(VOVworld) - The first batch of 500 migrants is set to return from Greece to Turkey next Monday under the terms of a deal reached last month.

More than one million migrants -- about half of them Syrians -- reached Europe via the Mediterranean in 2015. (Photo: AFP/File)

A European Commission source said Thursday that those returning are Afghanis, Pakistanis, and Syrians who have had their asylum applications denied.

This will be the first return under the EU-Turkey deal but the source did not specify from which of the five Aegean Sea islands currently hosting refugees the returnees will come, nor whether they will return by sea or air.

The same day, Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship John McCallum pledged to speed up the process of approving Syrian refugees. Canada intends to receive an additional 10,000 migrants by the end of this year or early next year.

At a press conference in Germany following a meeting on migrant issues, McCallum said Canada is doing all it can to meet the set target. He noted that the Canadian government is considering new regulations for providing personal guarantees after some Canadian families complained about the current procedures.