Ecemis: Mostly People From Neighbor Countries Migrate To Turkey

ISTANBUL - Interior Ministry Undersecretary Muzaffer Ecemis said on Thursday that people of mostly neighbor countries like Iran and Iraq migrated to Turkey.
Speaking in the meeting of Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (COEPA) Sub-Commission for Refugees, Ecemis noted that 12 thousand 196 Iraqis and 19 thousand 982 Iranians had sought asylum in Turkey so far, stating that almost 16 thousand of those people were settled in third countries.
Around 94 thousand 514 people were captured in 2000 when trying to enter or depart Turkey illegally, Ecemis pointed out.
Ecemis said that that figure was 92 thousand 362 in 2001, 82 thousand 825 in 2002, and 23 thousand 208 in 2003.
Three thousand 895 human smugglers were captured and punished between 1998 and 2003, Ecemis stated.
Ecemis emphasized that Turkey had taken measures to deal with both structural problems and problems in practice to fight against human trafficking.
Thus, Turkey was upgraded from Tier 3 to Tier 2 in the U.S. State Department's trafficking in persons report, Ecemis added.
(BRC-AÖ) 18.09.2003