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

46 migrants rescued, one girl dead in Aegean Sea: Father claims push-back

On 15 January, the Turkish Coastguard rescued 46 migrants in the Aegean Sea while recovering one body, off the southwestern Kuşadası district close to the Greek island of Samos. The father of the 4-years-old girl who died in the shipwreck claimed that the Greek Coastguard pushed back their boat: “It was so inhumane. They tried to kill us”

Muhammed Fadil, one of the 46 survivors of the January 15 shipwreck in the Aegean Sea, lost his daughter in the accident | Photo: Picture-alliance/Ibrahim Uzun/Anadolu Agency

Via InfoMigrants – The Turkish coastguard has reportedly rescued 46 migrants from a sinking rubber boat in the Aegean Sea. The body of a young girl was recovered.

Via Hürriyet Daily News – Iraqi migrant Mohammed Fadil, whose 4-year-old daughter’s body was recovered, claimed that Greek naval officers were responsible for the incident.

The articles above were originally published by InfoMigrants and Hurriyet Daily News.

News Digest

Oxfam condemns EU over ‘inhumane’ Lesbos refugee camp

Via The Guardian – Violence so bad that women wear nappies at night to avoid leaving tents, report says.

A child at the Moria refugee camp on Lesbos
About 5,000 people live in the Moria camp, where temperatures in winter can fall below freezing. Photograph: Giorgos Moutafis/Oxfam

The EU has been strongly criticised over conditions in Greece’s largest refugee camp, where Oxfam reported women are wearing nappies at night for fear of leaving their tents to go to the toilet.

This article was originally published by The Guardian.

News Digest

Istanbul’s African migrants looking to go pro in football

Daily Sabah reports on a newly established African football club in Avcılar district of Istanbul. Although the report fails to give valid sources on the intensity or the increase of the number of African migrants who live in Istanbul, we post a link to it in order to make the African football players in Istanbul visible.

Daily Sabah: Players train at a stadium in Istanbul’s Avcılar every week

Via Daily Sabah

Konviction Rüya Spor, made up of amateur African players living in Istanbul, aims to be first professional football club of its kind after getting their license from Turkish officials. If approved, it will revive hopes for players who had originally come to Turkey to play in professional leagues.

This article was originally published by Daily Sabah

News Digest

Turkish interior minister states the number of citizenships granted to Syrian refugees

Following the outrage over Syrians celebrating the new year in Istanbul, the Turkish interior minister gave an extensive interview to journalist Kübra Par. While trying to ease the xenophobic sentiments by denying myths about Syrians, such as “they are being accepted to universities without examination”, “they don’t have to wait in lines in the hospitals” or “they are given free public housing”, Minister Soylu also promotes a cultural and moral perspective on Syrians that highlights a historicized imagination of brotherhood of religion and being in arms. Minister Soylu also provides some significant data on Syrians. He says that 294,000 have returned to Syria, 65,000 have been granted work permits, 76,443 have been granted citizenship, and 645,000 children have been integrated into public education system. The full interview can be read in Turkish via HaberTurk. Below is a link to a brief report by the News Tribe, based on the same interview.

source: Haber Turk
Continue reading Turkish interior minister states the number of citizenships granted to Syrian refugees →
News Digest

Syrian War Refugees Have ‘No Place Anymore’ as Turkey Pushes Them to Return Home

Molly O’Toole covers the complexity of a life between displacement and return for Syrian refugees in Turkey for Newsweek. Collating stories of several Syrian interviewees, the article highlights the challenges regarding the flight to Turkey, living conditions with severe barriers to registration, education, work and health, as well as the expectations on resettlement despite the rising discourse of ‘return’:

FE_Syrian Refugees_01_USE AS BANNER
Baraah Jajah, left, with her son Louai, 3, from Hama, Syria, at a tent camp in Reyhanli inhabited by Syrians, most of whom are agricultural workers. Photograph by Jodi Hilton

“The refugees face a no-win situation: If they return to Assad’s Syria, they risk conscription, disappearance and sectarian retribution, as well as an utter lack of basic services and opportunity. If they stay in Turkey, they face chronic uncertainty and destitution, as domestic and international politics turn against them.”

This article was originally published by Newsweek.

News Digest

NY Times: “Spurning Erdogan’s Vision, Turks Leave in Droves, Draining Money and Talent”

A commuter train in Istanbul passed an election poster for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last June. Mr. Erdogan won re-election with greater powers, but the economy has faltered since then.

Via The New York Times

By Carlotta Gall

ISTANBUL — For 17 years, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won elections by offering voters a vision of restoring the glories of Turkey’s Ottoman past. He extended his country’s influence with increased trade and military deployments, and he raised living standards with years of unbroken economic growth.

This article was originally published by The New York Times

News Digest

The fragility of Syrian refugee women in Turkey

Burcu Karakaş reports on the everyday challanges for Syrian refugee women in Turkey: “Violence, exploitation, marginalisation: these are the challenges of a difficult everyday life for many Syrian refugee women in Turkey”


Refugees who took refuge in Turkey, escaping the war in Syria, October 2014 – kafeinkolik/Shutterstock

Rima, whose name has been changed for security reasons, is a young Syrian woman. Until five years ago, she was living in Syria with her family. One day, a bomb dropped on their house, killing her husband and three brothers. After this unexpected tragedy, Rima, mother of three, left her hometown for Turkey.

This article was originally published by OBC Transeuropa
News Digest

Turkey Must Not Ignore Non-Syrian Refugees

On 13th of December 2018, Refugees International published a report concerning the conditions of Afghan asylum-seekers in Turkey, titled “‘You Cannot Exist in This Place:’ Lack of Registration Denies Afghan Refugees Protection in Turkey”. The report claims crucial recommendations to DGMM, UNHCR, EU and US on the facilitation of registration, resettlement and protection for Afghan asylum-seekers. The full report is accesible here in English and Turkish.

Via Refugees Deeply

As Turkey takes sole responsibility from UNHCR for processing the asylum claims of Afghans and other non-Syrians, it must register them and allow them to access their basic rights, say Refugees International’s Izza Leghtas and Jessica Thea.

An unaccompanied minor from Afghanistan.AP/Alastair Grant

This article was originally published by Refugees Deeply.

News Digest

Greece: Violent Pushbacks at Turkey Border

Human Rights Watch published a report on 18th of December (see the full report in English, Turkish or Greek) regarding the violent push-backs commited by Greek law enforcement officers at the land border with Turkey in the northeastern Evros region. While the officers in some cases were said to use violence and often confiscate and destroy the migrants’ belongings, HRW urged the Greek authorities to cease summary returns to Turkey, investigate abuses, and hold those responsible to account.

Via The Guardian

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released footage of men bearing prominent scars on their backs as it accused Greek police of inflicting beatings on migrants and asylum seekers illicitly entering the country across the land border from Turkey.

This article was originally published by the Guardian. Find the full text of the HRW report here.