Turkish political refugees flock to Germany, seeking safety

Via abc-NEWS – Find the whole article here.

[…] Germany has become the top destination for political refugees from Turkey since the failed July 15, 2016 coup. Some 5,742 Turkish citizens applied for asylum here last year, more than three times as many as the year before, according to the Interior Ministry. Another 3,000 Turks have requested protection in Germany this year.

Continue reading Turkish political refugees flock to Germany, seeking safety

“Send to their death” – on deportations under the EU-Turkey Deal

Short film on deportations under the EU-Turkey Deal by Joinda Productions, a film collective of three brothers from Afghanistan who arrived in Greece a year ago from Turkey in a rubber dinghy!

In Afghanistan, the three brothers had been prosecuted for their artistic work: making political films. Trapped on the Greek island Lesvos in the barbed wired camp Moria for a year, the three Afghan television artists continue their political work. Continue reading “Send to their death” – on deportations under the EU-Turkey Deal

Building Markets Report Highlights ‘Another Side to the Story’ on Syrian SMEs in Turkey

Via cidpnsi The devastating scale of the humanitarian crisis in Syria has internally displaced more than six million people and forced five million more to flee across the border into neighbouring countries. The experiences of these refugees have often been reduced to a single narrative where newcomers are seen as burdens on their host communities. However, a closer look at the capabilities and contributions of Syrian-owned SMEs operating in Turkey reveals ‘another side to the story’. Continue reading Building Markets Report Highlights ‘Another Side to the Story’ on Syrian SMEs in Turkey

Pushback from Greece to Turkey documented on camera

The Greek newspaper Ef.Syn published an article on a pushback from Greece to Turkey based on information by the Watch the Med Alarm:

In this video, taken by refugees trying to reach the Greek islands by boat on the 21st July, we see a boat with a Greek flag creating waves by circling around them. The refugees are desperately calling the organization for documentation and surveillance of dangerous incidents in the Mediterranean Sea, Watch the Med, to inform them that a pushback-operation back to Turkey is in progress.

Continue reading Pushback from Greece to Turkey documented on camera

Vatandaşlık ve linç arasında – Between citizenship and lynching

The German-Turkish newspaper taz gazete on the public discourse on Syrian refugees in Turkey:

“The initial welcoming culture has long since been replaced by resentments and hate speech. The option of naturalization fuels the discussion on Syrian refugees.

In last week of July, the Turkish parliament received a draft law on the naturalization of migrants, of which especially Syrian refugees would profit. At the same time, hate towards refugees is growing in the Turkish society. In daily life, they are being racially haressed and instrumentalized by politicians according to their political agenda. In re-occuring situations of conflict with the EU, Erdoğan, who normally stages himself as the saviour of the ‘muslim brothers and sisters’, threatens to put all refugees in busses towards Europe.”

Continue reading the whole article in Turkish or German!

Children On the Move in the Midst of the EU-Turkey Deal

End Immigration Detention For Children‘ published a very insightful article on the fate or refugee children in the midst of the EU-Turkey Deal. In particular, the article deals with the situation of Pakistanis minors who reached the island of Lesvos.

What is certain is that these boys waited, alongside other children and adults, inside the detention center for many weeks or even months amidst appalling conditions, limited access to medical attention and information, violent outbursts, and food shortages. Many of them continue to wait in shelters or in other unstable and impermanent housing arrangements throughout the country. All of these boys remained far from home, but even further away from the better lives that they set out looking for.


Continue reading Children On the Move in the Midst of the EU-Turkey Deal

The AfroTurks who lost their language

IBW21.org published an insightful reportage about AfroTurks in Turkey:

“While Turkey is home to many ethnic and religious minorities, members of the Afro-Turk community attract immediate attention in big cities, particularly in the wake of the recent refugee crisis, when they have often been mistaken for Eritrean or Somalian refugees trying to get to Europe.

Although some estimates put the number of Afro Turks as high as 100,000, the community remains relatively unknown, especially outside of the Aegean area where many slave families were sent to work on the cotton fields near the port of old Smyrna (modern day Izmir) in the 18th Century, and where many were relocated in the last few decades of the Ottoman Empire.”

Continue reading the reportage here