* Photo: Mehmet Ali Özcan - Ankara / AA
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Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu made a speech at the Migration Council Meeting, which was attended by the representatives of relevant ministries, institutions and organizations today (September 15).
Soylu has announced that "the number of illegal immigrants who have been prevented on the eastern and southern borders of Turkey since 2016 is 2 million 327 thousand." According to Soylu, "since 2016, Turkey has sent back, deported 283 thousand 790 migrants in total to their countries." Minister Soylu has added that "462 thousand have been sent to Syria."
He has noted that "no critical incident concerning public order and security has been encountered due to the migration that started in 2011."
Referring to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) data, he has said that 39.4 percent of Syria's population are still refugees and according to international reports, 45 percent of the refugee deaths that occured in the last 24 years happened in the last 6 years.
New wall on Iran border
Minister Soylu has also given information about the border security systems. Saying that 837 kilometers of the 911-kilometer Turkey-Syria border has been equipped with walls, lighting, fiber optical systems, sensors and night vision cameras, Soylu has said that they carried out some works on the borders with Georgia and Armeni̇a in the face of potential migratory waves.
The Minister has also indicated that "they have started working at the most critical points on the 40-kilometer border in Hakkari."
Noting that "they will complete 20 kilometers on the Hakkari border by winter, Soylu has announced that "the remaining 241-kilometer part in Van on the border with Iran will be started upon the instruction of the President, with the funding of over 1 billion lira to be provided by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance and with talks with the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization and the Housing Development Administration (TOKİ)."
He has said, "So, that being the case, we will add around 241 kilometers to nearly 220 kilometers on the Iran border in the east."
Temporary protection for 3,710,532 people
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has indicated that they have been following the issue of migration in three main areas, namely "those who stay with international protection and temporary protection", "those who stay with a residence permit" and "irregular migration."
Speaking about the international protection and temporary protection, Minister Soylu has said that 15 thousand 975 people have been placed in third countries as part of the first group of applications while 48 thousand people have been placed in third countries in the second group.
According to Soylu, there are currently 3 million 710 thousand 532 people with temporary protection status in Turkey. The number of those residing in Turkey registered with a residence permit as students and for familial and work-related reasons is 1 million 207 thousand 749.
Soylu has announced that since 2019, the number of Syrians who have "voluntarily" returned to their county is 642 thousand 26.
71 thousand Afghans sent back in a year
Soylu has said that only in 2019, 71 thousand Afghans and 40 thousand Pakistanis were sent back to their countries.
"When all these are deducted, the number of those whose exit cannot be ensured has been 814 thousand 526 since 2016," he has said.
Referring to the data of both Frontex and Turkey, the number of migrants who crossed into Europe is 586 thousand 615.
Sharing further information about the citizens of Afghanistan in Turkey, Soylu has said that there are 300 thousand Afghan migrants who have applied for international protection and nearly 183 thousand are registered. "Some of them have gone to Europe," he has added.
"Of the 1 million 293 thousand migrants who have been caught since 2016, 470 thousand have been of Afghan origin and 196 thousand were of Pakistani origin," Soylu has indicated. (AS/SD)
