Afghan migrants in Turkey continue to face deportations
There has been a 400 percent increase in the number of undocumented Afghan migrants in Turkey this year, according to reports by Turkish newspaper Haberturk.
Some 27,000 Afghan migrants were living in Turkey in the first quarter of this year. This is a sharp increase compared to the same period in 2017 when only 6,000 Afghan migrants were in the country.
According to the Turkish government, most Afghan migrants consider Turkey a destination country and not a transit country on the way to Europe.
The Turkish government has vowed to keep deporting irregular Afghan migrants. As part of this, Turkish law enforcement officers recently detained a number of undocumented migrants across various provinces of the country.
Speaking to The Migrant Project, one recent returnee, Mirza, who was sent back to Kabul from Turkey three weeks ago described his journey.
“I went to Turkey about 17 months ago via Iran. Don’t ask me about the troubles I faced during the trip to Turkey, walking for 16 hours a day, hungry and thirsty. I finally reached Turkey, hoping to get to my dream, Europe. I lost one of friends on the way and still don’t know where he might be.
“The smugglers make false promises. They are very immoral people, never trust them. During my stay in Turkey, it was difficult for me to earn more money to continue my trip. Getting to Europe is difficult now so I preferred to return to my country rather than staying uselessly in Turkey,” Mirza explained.
TMP – 08/05/2018
Share This Article