No Legal Basis for ‘Problematic Passengers Room’
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The section called “Problematic Passengers Room” at Atatürk Airport in İstanbul is actually a lounge. Nevertheless, there are refugees there kept from 15 days to a year.
Syrian Fadi Mansour is one of the refugees who was kept in the room for a year without seeing daylight and sleep under fluorescent light 24/7.
His lawyer, Aysu Kapaklıkaya told bianet of the legal status of the room and conditions of people kept there.
No legal status
Lawyer Kapaklıkaya said the room has “no legal basis” and “not compatible with the law”.
“That place is like a repatriation center…However, it is not a lounge that conforms humanitarian standards.
“Those who are kept here are not considered under administrative detention, if that were the case then you could go to law. But people staying here cannot go to law for refugee status.
“State doesn’t consider being kept here administrative detention because that area is not considered part of Turkey’s soil”.
He slept on sofas for one year
Mansour had told the following as to the room:
“Right now, my only dream is to sleep with the lights off. Then to see the daylight and go out to fresh air. But these are of secondary importance. My main trouble is the lighting. This light is too much. I have had enough”.
Mansour kept in the room as of March 15, 2014 said 30-40 people are staying in the room which at most 15 people can stay, and added that there is a constant circulation.
Mansour had shared the picture of the hamburger he used to eat to every lunch for a year on Twitter.
Lawyer Kapaklıkaya conveyed the following information as to the room:
“The passengers kept there are having problems among themselves. There is no inspection. They can take shower but there is no bed in the room. They are lying down on sofas or ground. There is not a life space”.
Only return is allowed
Lawyer Kapaklıkaya said, “Those who are kept there can return if they want to”.
“When you go to law like Mansour did, deportation procedure is halted. They don’t send you back but you can’t enter either.
“Those staying in this room are deprived of all rights”.
Who stay in the room?
Kapaklıkaya answere as follows to our question “Who stay in that room?”
“Mostly people getting involved in crime or accused of getting involved in crime are kept here. They are waited here to be sent back.
“What is meant by crime is missing or false document, or enter [the country] illegally. Besides, the ones getting involved in crime in Turkey are also kept to be sent back”.
“The room is against human rights”
Kapaklıkaya wasn’t allowed in the room though her client Mansour was there.
She met with Mansour at the entrance area for passport control.
“People are kept under white light for 24 hours in the room, Mansour too was complaining of having to sleep under white light. It is a closed area, they can’t go outside”.
Kapaklıkaya stated that the room’s conditions violate human rights.
| What had happened?
Citizen of Syria, F.M. has left Syria to evade military service in August 2012 and went to Lebanon. F.M. stated that he came to Turkey from Lebanon following being kept hostage for ransom by a local group in Lebanon. He went to Malaysia after staying in Turkey for a month. His entrance to Malaysia was denied on the allegation that he used fake ID information. Malaysian authorities returned him to Turkey in March 2015. F.M. has been remanded in custody in Atatürk Airport's "Problematic Passengers Room" for eight months. He demanded to be sent to Lebanon after he was attacked and wounded by another person on remand. He headed to Lebanon on November 20 but his entrance to the country was denied and that sent back to İstanbul the next day, on November 21. He had been taken into custody once more as he landed in İstanbul and was being kept in "Problematic Passengers Room". |
(AS/TK)