Via ANSA med – Turkish authorities have apprehended over the past week a total of 5,371 migrants and refugees who were trying to illegally cross the borders with the European Union or to enter the country, the Turkish interior ministry has said. They included 389 who were intercepted at sea, it said. The ministry also said that 136 suspected human traffickers were arrested. Continue reading Migrants: over 5,000 apprehended in Turkey in 7 days
The (unseen) violent and forced push-backs on the Bulgarian-Turkish land border
Via Bordermonitoring Bulgaria – Last month (12th-14th February 2018) members of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs in the European Parliament were present in Bulgaria to collect objective first-hand information on the Bulgarian-Turkish land border. After the visit Marie-Christine Vergiat, the leader of the committee mentioned the technique of the Bulgarian border guards who are calling the Turkish collegues to avoid an ‚official push-back‘, which would mean a violation against the Non-refoulement principle: Continue reading The (unseen) violent and forced push-backs on the Bulgarian-Turkish land border
“More than 300 000 ‘stateless’ Syrian babies born in Turkey should be granted citizenship immediately”
Via Refugee News Turkey – Some 311,000 babies of Syrian origin have been born in Turkey under the stateless status, according to the Turkish Parliament’s Refugee Subcommittee that operates under the Human Rights Committee.
The subcommittee’s president Atay Uslu said the situation is a “humanitarian plight.” Continue reading “More than 300 000 ‘stateless’ Syrian babies born in Turkey should be granted citizenship immediately”
Turkey plans to establish refugee camps in Syria
Via InfoMigrants – The Turkish government says it will set up camps for 170,000 displaced people within Syria ahead of an influx of refugees from the Syrian region of Afrin.
A spokesman for Turkey’s foreign ministry, Hami Aksoy, said on Tuesday that new refugee camps would be established in nine different regions in Syria including Azaz, Elbil, Tugli, Teleffer, Naddah, Bardakh and Masad Rufi. Continue reading Turkey plans to establish refugee camps in Syria
Refugee Rights Turkey website has been renewed
Via Refugee Rights Turkey – Refugee Rights Turkey website has been renewed:
“The new website aims to make our various publications and activities more easily accessible to asylum seekers and migrants as well as other interested audiences. It also features some new content not previously available online.” Continue reading Refugee Rights Turkey website has been renewed
Humiliating Reception Conditions as a Deterrent to Prevent Refugee Arrivals on the Aegean Islands
Via RSA – In the framework of their campaign #StopTheToxicdeal RSA and PROASYL publish today the first topic that concerns reception conditions.
Two years after the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement (‘deal’), the very poor reception conditions in the hot spots of the Aegean coupled with the policy of geographical restriction are two of the most important deterrence factors for refugee flows from Turkey. Continue reading Humiliating Reception Conditions as a Deterrent to Prevent Refugee Arrivals on the Aegean Islands
154 migrants Caught in Dikili
Via Milliyet (Link in Turkish) – 154 migrants were caught in Dikili, a district of Izmir, while they were trying to cross to the Greek island Lesvos by rubber boats. The Coast Guard teams intervened and intercepted 154 migrants, including women and children, mostly from Syrian, Cameroon, Ghana, Angola and Senegal. They were first brought to the Dikili Coast Guard Command. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has provided humanitarian assistance for them. It is stated that they will be sent to the Izmir Provincial Directorate of Migration after the proceedings.
157 migrants were caught in Erzincan
Via Anadolu Ajansı (Link in Turkish) – In two separate incidents in the Uzumlu county of Erzincan, 157 illegal migrants were arrested.
The gendarmerie teams were controlling on the Eastern Express train, which travels from Kars to Ankara, when they realized that a group of 40 people, nationals from Afghanistan and Pakistan, two of them women, 3 of them children, where holding fake documents. Continue reading 157 migrants were caught in Erzincan
Five Aegean islands seek to cancel “geographic restrictions for refugees and migrants”
Via Keep Talking Greece – The geographical restriction imposed on refugees and migrants who arrived in Greece after the EU-Turkey Statement on the islands of the northern Aegean, violates the principle of human dignity, the alleged need to apply it is not substantiated, representatives of the Bar Associations in Chios, Lesvos, Rhodes, Kos and Samos, as well as the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) said in a joint press conference on Tuesday.
The five Bar Associations and the GCR have submitted two cancellation requests against the State and the Asylum Service’s decision to keep refugees and migrants on the islands until their asylum requests have been examined, which were heard earlier today by the Council of State. It is not known when the court will issue its ruling.
Hara Katsigianni, from GCR’s legal department, said the specific decision violates the European Directive 33/2013, according to which such geographical restrictions should be imposed on grounds of public interest, public order or for the rapid processing and effective monitoring of the application for international protection. However, she explained, “the provision of Article 41 of Law No 4375/2016, on the basis of which the decision on a geographical restriction was adopted, does not specify any reason of public interest or public order and does not mention the speedy monitoring of the application”.
Grammatiki Alimonou, representing the Bar Associations of Chios, Rhodes, Kos and Samos, stressed that “as far as the obligation to remain on the islands is concerned, there is no clear condition in the EU-Turkey Joint Statement”. On the contrary, she explained, the EU or the migration policy ministry interprets the statement in a way that requires refugees and migrants to remain on the islands until it is decided if they qualify for asylum and return them to Turkey from there.
“We are here to defend our islands, to defend the rights of refugees and migrants, who cannot live in appalling conditions, but to support the right of island residents to exist, to live, to create without deteriorating their daily lives,” the president of Chios’ Bar Association, Anthippi Zannara said.
This article was originally published by Keep Talking Greece
Resentments against Syrians in Turkey: “Why are you not fighting?”
Turkish-German newspaper taz.gazete reported on Feb 23rd that since the operation olive branch, resentments against Syrians in Turkey are increasing again.
“When Heso arrived in Turkey, it were everyday encounters and dialogues that made his life difficult: “We were always asked: Why did you come to Turkey, why did not you fight?”. These questions decreased over the years. In order to persevere, they started a new life in Turkey with their families, says Heso.” Continue reading Resentments against Syrians in Turkey: “Why are you not fighting?”