Migrant Crisis in Turkey: 'Many European Countries Do Not Keep Their Promises'

More than 120 migrants escaped from a deportation center in Istanbul on Saturday, according to Turkish media reports. Reportedly, the deportation center was set on fire by some of the migrants, protesting about their living conditions. Radio Sputnik discussed the issue with Metin Çorabatir, former spokesman for the UNHCR in Turkey.

“Some people have been arrested and I didn’t read their testimony but there are obvious reasons. Some of them were asylum seekers whose asylum claims have been rejected or regular migrants who are even not accessible or did not attempt to apply for asylum,” Çorabatir said.

He further said that most probably they do not want to be returned back to their countries of origin so it shows that there are some weaknesses in the Turkish practices.

Talking about the conditions in which these migrants were living, the spokesperson said that these centers are closed to outsiders and even organizations such as UNHCR have difficulty in accessing them, but some of the information that has reached him suggests that the centers are overcrowded.

The migrants were supposed to be moved to another center which is some 80 kilometers away from Istanbul. It is a newly renovated center but for some reason the migrants were not moved there and they continue to reside in very bad conditions in an old building in the city.

“In short, it is the poor living conditions; small space for migrants to live in and their fear of being deported that serve as some of the main reasons for their motivation. I don’t know if amongst them are genuine asylum seekers who are having difficulties in reaching the authorities but in short these centers do not work properly,” Çorabatir said.

Looking at how the migrants escaped in order to get away from the police and how some of them were arrested, the spokesperson looked at whether these centers are actually more like prisons.

“In Turkey there are certain rules for undocumented people caught in the country. They are kept in such centers which are called return centers and currently new ones are in the process of being built,” he said.

Turkey is to establish about 17 similar centers but the number of people is much higher. So the migrants are not technically in prison but in an administrative detention center awaiting deportation.

The spokesperson touched on Turkey and Europe’s relations and whether they are doing enough in coordinating and resolving the migrant crisis after they signed the EU-Turkey deal back in March.

“It is definitely problematic; this visa issue is an obstacle in front of it. Also the number of people who were returned from Greece is low and the number of people recycled from Turkey to Europe is low. Many European countries do not keep their promises to accept more people from Turkey, so a lot of weak points are there,” Çorabatir said.

But on the other hand, EU and Turkey are satisfied with the radical decrease in the number of dangerous journeys by sea, the spokesperson concluded.

According to the Hurriet Daily, police failed to stop the refugees from escaping. Authorities have caught 20 runaways so far and continue searching for the rest. An investigation has been launched into the employees who allowed flammable materials in the center in the first place. Those concerned have now been suspended.

Turkey is facing a huge influx of refugees from Syria and Iraq. According to the latest statistics provided by the Turkish government, 2,764,500 Syrian refugees were registered in the country as of 3 November.