Turkey has stepped up measures in the face of a growing influx of illegal migrants from Afghanistan who crossed into the country via Iran.
In the last three months, the number of illegal migrants arriving in Turkey has increased greatly, and it has been reported that the influx might continue in the upcoming weeks. According to security units, over 2,000 illegal migrants have been detected in just a week.
Illegal migrants, who say that they are fleeing from the pressure imposed by Daesh and the Taliban, have been crossing into Turkey on foot for many days, hoping for a better life.
Reportedly, 227 out of 691 illegal Afghan migrants were deported from a repatriation center in the eastern province of Erzurum on a charter flight over the weekend. Officials at the center said that 464 illegal migrants would also be deported once deportation procedures are completed. Underlining that currently there are 3,000 illegal migrants in Erzurum, the officials stated that they would be deported within a month.
In relation to the migrant wave to Turkey, Atay Uslu, the head of Parliament's committee on migration, underlined during his visit to a refugee camp in Kahramanmaraş with the committee, "Turkey has been implementing international protection procedures regarding the issue."
Highlighting that every year there have been migration movements to Europe via Afghanistan, Uslu said that Turkey has taken the necessary measures and implemented deportation procedures and made protection procedures if there are asylum applications.
Uslu stressed that international institutions need to consider why illegal transitions have been increasing and how stability can be ensured in emigrant countries.
"Unfortunately, today international organizations, the U.N.'s units, the High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration, have turned into institutions for statistics that have been counting the number of refugees losing their lives and refugees on the move," Uslu said, adding that these organizations need to focus on their genuine responsibilities.
