Mercan: There Is Need For Cooperation Among Source, Transit And Target Countries To Control Illegal Migration

ISTANBUL - Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (COEPA) Turkish Delegation Chairman Murat Mercan said on Thursday that there was need for cooperation among source, transit and target countries in order to control illegal migration.
COEPA Sub-Commission for Refugees convened in Istanbul.
Addressing the opening of the meeting which is hosted by the parliament, COEPA Turkish Delegation Chairman Murat Mercan stressed that Anatolian people accepted people of other countries in their land long before the words ''immigrant'' and ''refugee'' started to be used.
Mercan said that refugees and immigrants were a global issue.
The number of refugees in Turkey was 11 thousand as of May, Mercan noted.
Mercan stated that more than 90 percent of those refugees were from Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.
''Turkey is a country which both accepts refugees and immigrants and which is a transit country for refugees and immigrants. We have recorded significant progress in prevention of illegal migration, but it is not possible for Turkey to solve this issue on its own. There is need for cooperation among source, transit and target countries in order to control illegal migration,'' Mercan added.
Twenty-nine parliamentarians including 25 foreigners and 4 Turks are attending the meeting.
(BRC-AÖ) 18.09.2003