Greece’s migration policy focuses on security issues and creates “an atmosphere of fear” among migrants and their advocates, the United Nations human rights body said on Wednesday. That policy is having a “suffocating effect” on civil society, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor said. Human rights defenders in Greece are “under severe … Read more
Syrian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) on Tuesday gathered in Istanbul and released a joint press statement on refugees in Turkey, the crisis in Syria and the return of displaced people. Syrians will remain committed to exercising their right to return to Syria, once the necessary humanitarian, security and political conditions are met, the NGOs underlined. The … Read more
Greece’s pushbacks of migrants are “shameful,” the president of the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey (TİHEK) said Monday. Speaking at a press briefing, Muharrem Kılıç announced the release of a report evaluating the pushback actions against asylum-seekers and irregular migrants from a human rights perspective. Kılıç said migrants who crossed to Greece were … Read more
About 800 Syrian refugees are returning to their country from Turkey every week but conditions are not suitable for a large number of voluntary returns, an official from the United Nations refugee agency said. Turkey hosts around 3.7 million Syrians, the largest refugee population in the world. The government has said it plans to settle … Read more
Countries neighboring crisis regions shoulder the real burden of migration and refugees, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday, calling out countries that host a “few hundred refugees” and use them for “advertising” but do not take any responsibility in face of the deepening humanitarian crisis. In a video message for the Global Parliamentary Conference on … Read more
The Turkish Coast Guard Command said Monday they have rescued 33,964 irregular migrants in 1,295 pushback incidents carried out by the Greek coast guard since 2020, calling out Greece and the European Union to act in accordance with international law and human rights in order to end the pushbacks . In a statement released by … Read more
An Afghan citizen attempting to cross the Turkish-Greek border illegally was shot and fatally wounded by Greek border guards on Monday, the Turkish border guard said. Military police in Meriç, a border district near the Maritsa (Meriç) River in northeastern Turkey’s Edirne province, confirmed the death to Agence France-Presse (AFP) but did not comment on … Read more
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu on Thursday announced new measures taken against the transportation of illegal migrants. “In the cases of foreign passengers transported out of the province by taxis, we will impose an obligation on taxi drivers to check inter-provincial travel permit documents of foreign passengers. No one should mediate the transportation of illegal immigrants,” … Read more
As many as 59 Rohingyas were found stranded on a Thai island, claiming they were abandoned by smugglers during their journey to Malaysia, a senior police officer said Sunday. The group – among them five children – were found on Koh Dong island in the southern Satun province on Saturday, said Lt. Gen. Surachet Hakpan. … Read more
The US Embassy announced that the US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield will travel to Turkey “in the coming days” to discuss Ankara’s role in managing the migrant crisis and meet with Syrian refugees She will receive briefings on the support provided by the UN and its partner agencies to meet the dire … Read more