Category Archives: News Digest

HarekAct offers a topical and chronological collection of news on the EU-Turkish border regime under this section. We link to external newspapers and websites and do not hold the copyright.
Views and opinions expressed in the articles published on HarekAct are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of all editorial board members.

News Digest

9 die as migrant boat sinks off Turkey’s Aegean coast

Via Hurriyet Daily News / Anadolu Agency – Nine people died early on Aug. 9 when a boat carrying 13 migrants sank off the western coast of Turkey, the Turkish coast guard said. Four people were rescued.

The boat sank off the coast of Aydın province, near Kuşadası, a popular tourist destination, it said. Kuşadası district governor Muammer Aksoy said seven children and two women were identified as casualties with no one missing.

Continue reading 9 die as migrant boat sinks off Turkey’s Aegean coast →

News Digest

Exile wreaks havoc on refugees’ sexual and reproductive health

Via Relief Web – Refugee women and girls face extraordinary hardships. They endure grave risks and often brutal violence, and many are thrust into poverty. But they can also face another, more intimate, hardship, one that is seldom discussed – the effects of exile on their sexual and reproductive health.

Some 475,000 Syrian refugees have sought safety in the desert city of Sanliurfa, Turkey, an hour’s drive from the Syrian border. To meet their needs, UNFPA is operating four women’s and girls’ safe spaces in the city, which are all supported by European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).

Continue reading Exile wreaks havoc on refugees’ sexual and reproductive health →

News Digest

Four missing from capsized boat likely fleeing Turkish civil servants

Via Ahval News (19th July) – A boat that capsized on the Maritsa river on the Greek-Turkish border was likely carrying Turkish civil servants fleeing the crackdown after the July 2016 coup attempt, four of whom are still missing, Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported on Thursday.

Greek authorities have rescued three men, a woman and a child from the boat, according to the newspaper.

Continue reading Four missing from capsized boat likely fleeing Turkish civil servants →

News Digest

Fleeing mother and child drown crossing River Maritsa

Via Ahval News (20th July)– The bodies of a Turkish mother and one of her three missing children have been found on the shore of the Maritsa river on the Greek-Turkish border, Turkish news sources reported on Friday.

Hatice Akçabay and the body of her one-year-old son were discovered in Edirne province on the Turkish side of the Maritsa, known is Greece as the River Evros. Akçabay’s two older sons, four and six years of age, are still missing.

Continue reading Fleeing mother and child drown crossing River Maritsa →

News Digest

Number of Turks granted asylum doubles in Germany

Via Ahval News (22th July) – The number of Turkish citizens granted asylum have doubled in Germany in comparison to last year, according to a report by the country’s Federal Migration and Refugee Department quoted by independent news platform T24.

Turkey is now the third biggest source of those granted asylum in the country behind Syria and Iraq and ahead of countries including Iran, Afghanistan and Somalia, the report said.

Continue reading Number of Turks granted asylum doubles in Germany →

News Digest

3 babies die in capsized boat in northwest Turkey

Via Ahval News –  A boat carrying Turkish asylum seekers trying to fled to Greece capsized en route to Greek Island of Lesbos, Cumhuriyet newspaper reported on Sunday.

The boat was carrying 16 people , including those allegedly linked to the Gülen movement, which Turkey accuses of orchestrating the coup attempt in 2016. Six people including three babies were drowned after the boat sank off Ayvalık in northwest Turkey. Nine people were rescued by the coast guard, while one person is still missing.

Continue reading 3 babies die in capsized boat in northwest Turkey →

News Digest

Refugees further traumatized by conditions in Greece’s Moria camp

 

Via Doctors Without Borders – As refugees continue to arrive on the island of Lesbos, Greece, the situation in Moria refugee camp is descending into chaos. There are frequent clashes, riots, and incidents of sexual violence, and the conditions of the camp are harming refugees’ mental health.

There are now more than 8,000 people crammed into a space made for 3,000 in Moria camp. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has witnessed escalating daily violence in Moria over the past few months, and staff have treated many victims of sexual violence, which occurs in and around the camp. Continue reading Refugees further traumatized by conditions in Greece’s Moria camp →

News Digest

Turkey involved in creating new ID forms for Syrians who ‘lost it all’

Turkey involved in creating new ID forms for Syrians who lost it all

Via Hürriyet Daily News – Opposition authorities are issuing new ID cards in northern Syria with help from neighboring Turkey, expanding their administration over territory that remains outside President Bashar al-Assad’s expanding area of control. Continue reading Turkey involved in creating new ID forms for Syrians who ‘lost it all’ →

Reporting on the Turkish-EU Border Regime