461,483 ILLEGAL MIGRANTS CAUGHT IN TURKEY BETWEEN 1998-2003
ANKARA - As a result of intensified efforts and initiatives, the trend of illegal migration via Turkey has shown a decrease and migration flows have been diverted away to other international routes.
According to the information derived from Foreign Ministry's web site on Wednesday, totally 461,483 migrants were captured in Turkey between the years 1998-2003.
People from Pakistan, Turkey, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran and Palestine constitute an important part of those who want to go illegally to Europe via Turkey. Romanian, Russian, Moldovan and Ukrainian citizens come to Turkey to work illegally.
''Turkey, at the cross-roads of Asia, Middle East and Europe, bordering eight countries and lapped by 5,000 miles of coastline, has seriously been confronted with various forms of this transnational crime which without doubt, pose a threat to its social order, human and democratic values. As a consequence of various developments taking place at the regional and global level, Turkey, due to its geographical situation, needed to tend an ever growing illegal migratory pressure. As estimated, 500,000 illegal migrants reach the European countries annually. Each year more than 100,000 illegal migrants bound for Europe are apprehended in Turkey. As a result of intensified efforts and initiatives, the trend of illegal migration via Turkey has shown a decrease and migration flows have been diverted away to other international routes in 2002 and 2003 like the Middle East, South Asia, North Africa and East European countries,'' Foreign Ministry noted in its web-site. Thus, the number of illegal migrants using the Turkey route have decreased in half when compared to the past three years.
Security forces took into custody 11,362 illegal migrants in 1995; 28,439 in 1998; 29,426 in 1998; 47,529 in 1999; 94,514 in 2000; 92,365 in 2001; 82,825 in 2002 and 56,219 migrants in 2003.
According to the information received from Gendarme General Command, gendarme teams caught 19,469, including 2 injured and 11 dead illegal migrants in its 2,635 operations last year. One third of those persons were from Pakistan.
Here is the list of illegal migrants captured by gendarme according to their nationalities:
Pakistan : 5431 persons (28 percent)
Turkey : 1910 persons (10 percent)
Somalia : 1760 persons (9 percent)
Iraq : 1648 persons (9 percent)
Afghanistan: 1610 persons (8 percent)
Bangladesh : 1305 persons (7 percent)
Palestine : 835 persons (4 percent)
Others : 4959 persons (25 percent)
Last year the parliament adopted various international conventions on fight with cross bordering crimes, while an amendment was made in Turkish Penal Code which sentenced those who were involved in illegal migration and human trafficking to imprisonment terms changing between 2 and 20 years.
(Öª-AÖ) 03.03.2004