By Tuncay Kayaoglu
ISTANBUL
The number of foreigners seeking international protection in Turkey has increased dramatically in 2013 compared to 2005, an official report showed.
A report, the first of its kind in Turkey, released by the Directorate General of Migration Management disclosed that in 2005, about 3,000 people applied for international protection.
In 2011, the number rose to about 17,000, to exceed 30,000 in 2013.
The report containing detailed information on migration between 2005 and 2013 was released in August. It provides information on the number of foreigners coming into Turkey legally, the estimated number of illegal immigrants, as well as those who applied for international protection.
Taner Kilic, a lawyer and chairman of Amnesty International Turkey’s Board, suggested that Afghans and Iraqis constituted the core surge in demands for international protection.
"The number of Afghans coming into Turkey from Iran during the second quarter of 2012 increased 1,500 percent compared to the same period in 2011," he recalled, adding that number of Iraqis seeking international protection had also increased due to the worsening civil war there.
The report did not include information on the country of origin of the applicants.
The Migration Management said international protection could be granted in the form of "refugee, conditional refuge, subsidiary protection or temporary protection".
The law requires Turkey to grant subsidiary protection to those who could face capital punishment -- the death penalty was abolished in Turkey in 2004 -- be subjected to torture in their homeland or be in danger due to war or conflict. Citizens of any nationality can apply for subsidiary protection in Turkey.
When compared to EU member states, the Migration Management’s report said, in 2013, Turkey was the fourth country in terms of the number of applicants asking for international protection (Germany tops the list).
While the demand was on the rise, Turkey has appeared, according to the report, reluctant to grant international protection; it only accepted 267 applicants in 2013.
Kilic believes that such reluctance may stem from broader discussions on how to revamp the law on foreigners.
"The Foreigners Directorate may have decided not to proceed on applications because there were discussions over enacting a new law on foreigners," Kilic said.
More than 100,000 people applied for protection in Turkey between 2005 and 2013.
The Directorate General of Migration Management stressed that this did not include Syrians fleeing the civil war since the exodus prevented the management to digest all applications properly.
Rather than processing the applications, Turkey provided these refugees with "temporary shelters", according to the report.
Ankara cannot give refugee status to Syrians due to self-imposed geographical restrictions Turkey specified in 1962 when it ratified the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees. The restriction disqualifies all but the citizens of member states of the Council of Europe to be considered for refugees in Turkey.
Following escalation of civil war in Syria in 2011, Ankara has followed an open-door policy to Syrians fleeing the war. This policy has dramatically increased number of Syrian living in the country.
The UN’s Refugee Agency disclosed last June that Turkey hosted 1,772,535 million Syrian refuges.
In 2013, the Turkish government reformed its law on foreigners and international protection, harmonizing Turkey's rules regarding foreigners’ visit and residence in Turkey with EU laws.
The report revealed that the number of foreigners entering Turkey had increased more than 50 percent, from 20 million in 2005 to 32 million in 2013.
Among these visitors, Germany tops the list. In 2013, about 5 million Germans and 4.2 million Russians visited Turkey for variety of reasons including tourism. The U.K., Georgia, Bulgaria and the Netherlands follow.
The report also disclosed that more than 8,000 people were denied entrance to the country in 2013. In 2013, about 40 percent of those people were denied entry because they were blacklisted, the report said.
Turkish authorities issued more than 150,000 residence permits in 2005 while this figure doubled by 2013.
Among the new residents in 2013, Syrians (46,252) hold the first spot, followed citizens by Azerbaijan, Russia and Germany.
Sixteen percent of residence permit issued for educational purposes while 14 percent were for work, the report said.
The report also provided some very specific estimates for illegals immigrants. According to the report, the number of illegal immigrants dropped from 57,428 in 2005 to 39,890 in 2013.
Syrians also top that list. More than 15,000 Syrians were caught while coming into Turkey illegally in 2013, followed by Afghans (5,991) and people from Myanmar (2,483).
