In an anxious and high-pitched voice, this person was explaining to me how a group of illegal immigrants from Pakistan has been victimized by a known human smuggler of Pakistani origin who resides in İstanbul. Three young Pakistanis named Mian, Sikandar and Muhammed (I will not disclose their family names or hometowns out of respect for their privacy and pending proceedings) were apprehended entering the country illegally by Turkish security forces.In all likelihood they will be deported to their homeland just like thousands of others who try to cross into the Europe with the hope of a better future and possibly landing a job that can provide remittances back to their families as well. To add insult to injury, the culprit, who disguises himself as a businessman, is now approaching these three Pakistanis and their families back in Pakistan to elicit money in exchange for assurances he can provide a permanent stay for them in Turkey.
Like a grave robber, this crook preys on the poor and tries to extort large sums of money from their families, who anxiously await the return of their loved ones unharmed and unexploited. He already collected, I was told, thousands of dollars from these men in advance of the tumultuous journey of hope. What is more, this case, like many others, gives a bad name to the Republic of Pakistan with which Turkey has a very close relationship. I tipped the authorities off about the situation, and hopefully they will do something about it.
The illegal immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees who flock to Turkey from the east and south of our border have long been using the territory to cross into Europe to have better lives and improved economic conditions. Human smugglers charge these poor people thousands of dollars to smuggle them to their destinations under pitiful and inhumane conditions. Most of the time the Turkish authorities are overwhelmed with the flow, and they are having a hard time addressing the issue, not only from a legal point of view but also because of the logistics of providing them with decent guesthouses and shelters.
Just to give you an idea, more than 52,000 illegal immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees entered Turkey in 2008 alone. According to the Human Rights Research Association (İHAD), just last month 2,618 refugees, asylum seekers and illegal immigrants were detained for violating border regulations and 378 were deported. Understandably, there is a growing sentiment against illegal immigration among the Turkish people as well. Though Ankara pledged to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the European Union that it would open new refugee guesthouses in seven provinces to alleviate the plight of refugees, it has been unable to fulfill this promise after the local residents living near the designated spots for these prospective shelters protested against building such establishments.
The reasoning among the protestors is that if guesthouses for refugees are built in their neighborhoods, the crime rates will spike, further driving the property values in the areas down. You can feel the anxiety building up in places like Bursa, Hatay, Van, Mersin and Muğla. Of course politicians are ready to exploit these anxieties just like in any other country as they see the issue as a case that can bring a political windfall.
The case is, however, far from a simple political capital game. It is hurting Turkey's image and putting its national resources under a heavy burden. For example, a judgment last week against Turkey by the European Court of Human Rights over two Iranian refugees who requested temporary asylum shows that both the country's administrative and judicial bodies are under pressure to address the issue. They failed to properly proceed on their asylum case after the Iranian authorities refused their re-entry.
Turkey imposes limitations on accepting asylum seekers based on their country of origin and refuses to grant asylum to people of non-European origin as refugees under the geographical reservation clause it placed on the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The Turkish government plans, however, to remove this restriction by the year 2012 in response to mounting criticism from the European Union. Ankara has its own criticism directed toward the EU as well. It partially blames the EU for its inconsistent approach in its immigration and asylum policy as the current implementation gives mixed signals to prospective immigrants as to whether they would be accepted or rejected at Europe's gates.
The alarming development for Turkish authorities is that the country is no longer a mere transit place for illegal immigration. In recent years, Turkey has emerged as a destination for many immigrants arriving from Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries for short or medium-term stays. The country's economic boom in the last seven years attracted many illegal immigrants to settle and work in Turkey. Now Ankara needs to come up with better legislation and a better institutional framework to adjust itself to the changing parameters of illegal immigration, refugees and asylum seekers.
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