Rights advocates demand end of EU-Turkey refugee deal

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On the occasion of World Refugee Day, a demonstration was held in Kadıköy, İstanbul, where refugee rights activists, citizens, as well as Green Left MP Özgür Saki attended.

A statement delivered by the activists highlighted the discrimination and racism faced by refugees worldwide, along with the rise of anti-migrant rhetoric in Turkey during the campaigning for the May elections.

The crowd chanted slogans such as "Say no to racism and xenophobia," "A classless, borderless, and exploitation-free world," "Racism kills, solidarity sustains," and "Not foreigners, but class comrades."

The Together We Want to Live Initiative is an independent citizens' rights initiative. As a solidarity network, it aims to expose the consequences of state border policies, advocate for open borders, raise awareness about the problems faced by migrants, strive to build a coexistence without differentiation between migrants and citizens, and establish a common struggle in these areas.

At the event outside the Süreyya Opera building in Kadıköy, Tuğba Yılmaz from the group read out a statement for the press.

Exploiting refugees as cheap labor

The initiative declared that it will strengthen solidarity against the fueling of anti-migrant sentiment under the pretext of the economic crisis, rapid and deepening poverty, earthquakes, or elections, and against the killings of migrants along migration routes.

The statement emphasized that the government in Turkey has been exploiting refugees as cheap labor for years and using them as a tool for political maneuvers.

"While access to asylum mechanisms is almost impossible for migrants from outside Europe, the Temporary Protection status granted to Syrians severely limits their access to basic rights such as work permits, thus making them vulnerable to exploitation," the statement said. Millions of Syrians in Turkey are not officially refugees but under temporary protection status for over a decade now.

It also criticized the government for continuing its attacks on the Kurdish people, women, and the LGBTI+ community, while fueling hatred and discrimination through cross-border operations.

The burden of the crisis

The initiative drew attention to the fact that the working class is divided with racist and chauvinistic rhetoric, concealing the underlying causes of poverty, unemployment, high rents, inflation, economic crisis, and all social problems. The statement highlighted that the burden of the crisis is increasingly falling on vulnerable migrants and impoverished communities.

"The government continues its policy of turning a blind eye to racist attacks against migrants, leading to an increase in these attacks and ensuring the continuation of the exploitative order. The main opposition party and other parties, by targeting migrants, contribute to the mainstreaming of racism," the statement said. It emphasized the necessity of a struggle line that stands directly opposed to the dual system of the government and the opposition, calling for a unified fight from forces supporting labor, democracy, and freedom.

The statement also referred to the recent major tragedy in the Aegean Sea, where more than 80 refugees lost their lives. It highlighted that as a result of the EU's anti-migrant border security policies driven to halt migration, hundreds of migrants drown in the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas or perish from freezing in the regions where they are pushed back.

"Imperialist hypocritical policies disregard the right to asylum and refuge, and in order to access basic rights, migrants are forced to move, risking violence and death in the hands of human traffickers. At the same time, these same countries continue to be the world's largest arms exporters, benefiting from conflicts in migrants' home countries," activists stated.

They said lives of refugees cannot be a bargaining chip between states and urgently called for the termination of the EU-Turkey Readmission Agreement, which "confines migrants in Turkey," and demanded the recognition of migrants' freedom of movement.

The statement concluded by reiterating the urgent demands:

"Asylum and refuge are rights!
Cancel the Readmission Agreement!
Lift the geographical limitation in the Geneva Convention!
A borderless, classless, and exile-free world is possible!" (TY/AEK/VK)