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.
With the crackdown on the Turkish academies launched since the beginning of 2016, 452 Academics for Peace have been dismissed from their jobs or forced to resign and retire. These academics did not only loose their jobs but they are also stripped of the civil rights and virtually banned from getting re-employed in the private sector as well.
Several organizations including Unions are trying to put together funds to make up for lost incomes, help living costs as well as legal costs. As HarekAct, we are in support with the Academics for Peace and would like to disseminate the information about two crowfunding campaigns as follows:
Via ECRE – The Turkish Directorate-General of Migration Management (DGMM) has published its Annual Migration Report for 2016, which provides information inter alia on its international protection procedure established by the Law on Foreigners and International Protection (LFIP) and on its temporary protection regime for persons fleeing Syria.
Via Refugees Deeply – Daniel Howden, journalist and senior editor at Refugees Deeply, writes about the current situation on refugees in Greece and the impacts of EU-Turkey deal. He provides a detailed and vivid account on more than 50,000 refugees and migrants stranded within Greece’s borders. For Howden, policies that segregate the refugees from the host population and the absence of integration schemes create a gloomy atmosphere of deterrence, where the Greek state tries to ignore the situation by hoping that the problem “will vanish by itself”.
Via Gazete Duvar (Link in Turkish) – Following the wall constructed at the Syrian border, Turkey will build a new wall at the Iranian border. The distance between Ağrı and Iğdır will be closed by a 70 kilometer wall and the rest will be covered with wire looms and towers.
According to Abdulkadir Selvi, a columnist from Hürriyet newspaper, Turkey is preparing to close the Iranian border on the grounds of PKK. For this aim, the border will be covered with concrete wall, iron barb wire and watch towers.
Via Tagesschau (link in German) – Around 400 Turkish Soldiers and Diplomats including their families applied for asylum in Germany since the attempted coup in Turkey. Now the first applications have been positively decided on: Several soldiers and their families got asylum in Germany.
According to unofficial information the ‚Federal Office for Migration and Refugees’ (BAMF) might have waiting for after the referendum to take a decision. Officially the BAMF is denying this information. The decision could have a signal effect for other European countries who as well got asylum requests from Turkish citizens.
Via Open Democracy(from 16th April) – Nil Mutluer on the western gaze on Turkish politics and those fleeing its consequences:
“In Turkey’s story, the western gaze is searching for new victims. Yes, I fled Turkey with my three year old daughter, but am I that victim? Well, I am a ‘scholar at risk’, that much is true enough. Although I have been active in various feminist and human rights circles and have been working on issues regarding democratization for almost two decades, I have officially gained that status thanks to one modest political act in a whole lifetime: I joined over a thousand other colleagues – Academics for Peace – in signing a peace petition, “We will not be a Party to This Crime”, which called on the Turkish state to cease its accelerating violence in the Kurdish provinces and respect domestic and international laws. Continue reading Turkey’s ‘special refugees’→
Via Gazete Karinca(Link in Turkish) – The Turkish NGO, Halkların Köprüsü Derneği (HKD), held a press statement on May 6, 2017 in order to draw attention to the outrageous conditions that the refugees detained in Harmandalı Deportation Center in İzmir were exposed. After the news footage of the refugees in the Center crying for help reflected in the press, a number of NGOs, including HKD moved to inspect the Center and yet, were refused to a permission of entry. The lawyers’ entry to inspect the conditions of refugees was also prevented by the Governorship of İzmir.
Laut dem Bericht der Human Rights Joint Platform sind nach dem Militärputschversuch zwischen dem 21. Juli 2016 und 20. April 2017 123.518 Beamte per Dekret entlassen worden. Am 29. April wurde ein neues Dekret veröffentlicht. Die Zahl ist größer geworden. Die Entlassenen dürfen nicht mehr im Staasdienst tätig sein.
Akademikerin Nuriye Gülmen und Lehrer Semih Özakça, die täglich seit 177 Tagen gegen ihre Entlassung, für die Aufhebung ihres widerrechtlichen und ungeregechten Arbeitsverbots, in Ankara protestieren. Sie sind zusätzlich seit 57 Tagen in den unbefristeten Hungerstreik getreten.
Wir, Mitglieder von Academics for Peace, werden für die Solidarität mit Nuriye Gülmen und Semih Özakça in den Hungerstrike treten.
Via EU Observer – The Greek government is giving cash incentives for rejected asylum seekers on the islands to forgo their legal rights to appeal their cases. Some €1,000 and free plane tickets home are now part of a largely EU-financed package to send them packing as quickly as possible.
The money is part of the pre-existing programme but the decision to deny people who appeal their cases to the funds was recently made by the Greek ministry of migration policy.
Via ECCHR – The work of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) on the Greek Islands not only lacks a legal basis, it also fails to respect core standards of fairness. This is the conclusion of the ECCHR after analyzing a series of admissibility interviews conducted by EASO officers at the “Hotspots” in Greece. ECCHR has therefore submitted a complaint against EASO to the European Ombudsman requesting the suspension of EASO’s involvement in admissibility interviews and the limitation of its activities to conduct not in breach of EU law.
