At the beginning of this week, I received an invitation from the Migration and Diaspora Foundation. They informed me that they would hold a press conference to announce the "Migrant Mobility in Türkiye Report." I could not attend, but they sent me the report.
A report full of very striking information and graphics obtained from official institutions.
As is known, following the wars that broke out after the Arab Spring, Türkiye came face to face with the phenomenon of irregular migration and asylum seekers and with the intense migrant mobility coming from the countries of the region.
It is useful first to make the following definitions and to evaluate the phenomenon of migration accordingly.
Regular Migrant: A person who acts in accordance with the immigration laws and regulations of the destination country.
Irregular Migrant: A person who enters a country illegally, who remains, or who does not leave even though they entered by legal means.
Asylum Seeker: A person who takes refuge in another country in order to be protected from persecution and grave human rights violations, but who is not yet legally recognized as a refugee and is awaiting the outcome of their asylum application.
Because Türkiye has not yet signed the international conventions on refugee status, it does not define every irregular migrant who enters the country with the title of refugee.
THE LIE THAT THE SYRIANS WERE AFRAID AND FLED
As is known, the most numerous group of asylum seekers in our country is the Syrians. From 2011, when the war broke out, to 2014, the number of those who left Syria did not even reach 1.5 million. Yet from the moment the Ukraine war began, 6 million Ukrainians left their country within two months. This fact shows that the perception in our country that "the Syrians fled their country by failing to defend their land" does not reflect the truth, and that they were compelled to leave their country only after a long period of struggle.
In the report, the number of regular migrants who came to Türkiye between 2016 and 2023 appears as 3 million 147 thousand 821 people.
Between the same years, the NUMBER OF MIGRANTS WHO LEFT is a total of 1 million 960 thousand 828 people.
While the number arriving steadily decreased from 2019 onward, the number of those leaving also rose. For example, the number of departing migrants, which was 245 thousand in 2019, became 423 thousand in 2023.
Of course, this decrease has various causes. We can list its economic, social, cultural, and political reasons one after another. Racism is undoubtedly an important factor as well.
Türkiye follows an interesting course in terms of citizens who come and go through regular migration from other countries.
HAS TÜRKİYE CEASED TO BE AN ATTRACTIVE COUNTRY FOR UKRAINIANS AND RUSSIANS?
Between 2016 and 2024, the number of Russian citizens who came to Türkiye is 219 thousand 706, while the number of those who returned is 120 thousand 111. That is, the number of Russian citizens who remained appears as 99 thousand 595 people.
In 2022, 32 thousand 465 Ukrainians came to Türkiye, but in 2023 this number fell to 8 thousand 499. On the other hand, 16 thousand 895 Ukrainians left Türkiye. It appears that, for Ukrainians too, Türkiye has lost its quality of being one of the preferred countries.
One of the countries most often mentioned in regular migrant traffic is Germany. But an interesting picture emerges for this country too.
Between 2016 and 2023, the number of people who came from Germany is 77 thousand, and the number of those who left is 36 thousand 797. In the end, 40 thousand 211 people who came from Germany currently reside in Türkiye.
AFGHANS LEAD AMONG IRREGULAR MIGRANTS
Because of the American occupation of Afghanistan and the internal conflicts, Afghans entered through our borders by illegal means in large numbers.
In fact, people of Afghan origin came to Türkiye both as regular and as irregular migrants.
While the number of Afghans who came through regular migration between 2016 and 2023 was 248 thousand 940 people, the number of Afghans who returned to their country or went to other countries between the same dates was 113 thousand 435.
From 2014 onward, the number of irregular, undocumented Afghan migrants who arrived reached 768 thousand, but, as we said, 80 percent of them were either sent back or moved on to other countries.
In the numbers of irregular migrants, a serious increase occurred after 2014, especially during the Syrian war, as a result of the Bashar al-Assad regime's mercilessly bombing its own people from the air and the terrible massacres carried out by Hezbollah militants and Iranian soldiers in the country.
Meanwhile, the number of migrants who came from Syria by illegal means was 483 thousand 193 people. Its distribution relative to other countries is as follows:
Turkmenistan 53 thousand 009, Uzbekistan 51 thousand 364; the number of those coming from countries other than Morocco, Yemen, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, and Palestine is a total of 501 thousand 65 people.
2019 WAS THE YEAR IN WHICH 454 THOUSAND 662 UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS WERE APPREHENDED
In 2019, the highest figure for irregular migrant apprehensions between 2005 and 2024 was reached, and 454 thousand 662 undocumented migrants were apprehended and sent back to their source countries.
In addition, the President of the Directorate of Migration Management, Atilla Toros, states that over the past year, 401 thousand 325 irregular migrants left Türkiye of their own accord.
Within this framework, of the 1 million 696 thousand 069 irregular migrants apprehended between 2016 and 2023, 900 thousand 098 had come to Türkiye by illegal methods and 795 thousand 791 by legal means before falling into irregular migrant status. However, in 2023 this figure fell sharply. Of the 57 thousand 861 irregular migrants apprehended, 18 thousand 587 had come to Türkiye illegally and 34 thousand 274 by legal means before falling into irregular status.
This picture reveals that SUCCESS HAS BEEN ACHIEVED IN BORDER SECURITY.
It is observed in particular that migrants of African origin arrive by legal means and as tourists, build a life for themselves in the "ghettos" of the big cities, and continue their lives as undocumented migrants. This population was, to a large extent, sent back to their countries through the series of operations carried out in recent years.
THE EXAGGERATED PHENOMENON OF MIGRATION IN TÜRKİYE AND THE DISTORTIONS IN THE NUMBERS
According to World Bank data, when the asylum-seeker populations hosted by countries in 2023 are examined, it is seen that the country hosting the most asylum seekers in the world is the Islamic Republic of Iran, with Türkiye in second place. After that, Jordan and Germany appear as the countries hosting the most asylum seekers in the world.
This is true, but there is another striking fact.
In the ranking of countries hosting the most migrants relative to their population, Türkiye is in 12th place.
THE STATUS OF MIGRANTS: THE REQUIREMENT OF BELONGING TO THE TURKISH LINEAGE AND TURKISH CULTURE
So what will become of the migrants who remain in our country and have continued their lives here for years, whom we cannot send back because of the war in their own countries — that is, migrants belonging to various nations, chief among them the Syrians? The hundreds of thousands of children of these migrants who were born in our country are now receiving education in Türkiye's schools.
In the law that emerged during the exchange that began with the Treaty of Lausanne and the process that followed, it is stated that "settled or nomadic individuals and tribes of Turkish lineage and settled persons attached to Turkish culture" would qualify to become migrants. Although this article of the law emphasized belonging to the Turkish lineage and culture, in practice it is observed that, while ethnically non-Turkish Muslim Albanians, Bosniaks, and Pomaks are accepted as refugees or migrants, Orthodox Gagauz Turks or Shia Azeris have not been able to benefit from this privilege. That is, it is observed that this article has been wrongly interpreted on the basis of religious distinctions. During the exchange period as well, the Orthodox Christian Turks of Konya–Karaman were strangely exiled to Greece.
THE WAY MUST BE OPENED FOR MIGRANTS TO REMAIN IN TÜRKİYE
It is precisely at this point that a new interpretation suited to the field was made, by Presidential Decree, of the definition of "belonging to the Turkish lineage and Turkish culture" in Article 7 of Settlement Law No. 5543. This interpretation can be regarded as a way out that will provide an opportunity to resolve the asylum-seeker crisis our country is experiencing. In this context, by stating that "among those who complete their 12 years of uninterrupted education in Türkiye, those who succeed in the Turkish language examination to be held are considered to belong to the Turkish lineage and Turkish culture," a Presidential Decree to be issued should open the way for children who entered the Turkish National Education System at age 6, were raised within the Turkish National Education System throughout 12 years of uninterrupted education, and succeeded in attaining proficiency in the Turkish language examination, to remain in Türkiye and turn into individuals who will contribute to this country's production at the age when they will contribute to economic, social, scientific, political, and diplomatic production. To allow young people — whose every need we met during their consuming years, whose education we provided, and for whose upbringing we endured various sacrifices — to be recruited as "skilled migrants" by Western states because they cannot see a future for their permanence in our country precisely at the age when they will fully contribute to production is a great loss for our country and a great gain for Western countries.
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