Türkiye has deported over 97,000 refugees so far this year, says ministry

Refugees coming from Afghanistan arrive in Van, eastern Türkiye on foot. (Photo: AA/File)

Türkiye has deported 97,448 refugees since the start of the year, the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) reported yesterday (October 30), citing figures from the Presidency of Migration Management of the Ministry of Interior.

Deportations increased by 149 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the figures.

The number of deported refugees from Afghanistan increased by 206 percent from last year to 55,502. Some 40,510 refugees were deported to Afghanistan via 213 charter flights, and the rest were sent via scheduled flights, said the ministry.

The number of refugees deported since 2016 has reached 422,957.

Some 242,525 irregular immigrants were prevented from entering the country in 2022. 197,175 irregular immigrants have been caught since the beginning of the year, an increase of 91 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.

Along the Türkiye-Iran border, stretching 534km, a 295km long wall is being constructed to prevent the irregular entry of migrants. Mainly Afghans and Pakistanis travel on foot along the borders with Iran to enter Türkiye. Along the 911 km long Türkiye-Syria border, an 837km wall was finished in 2018.

Türkiye hosts the largest refugee population in the world, with a total of around 4 million people. On October 24, the HRW claimed that authorities in Türkiye arbitrarily arrested, detained, and deported hundreds of men and boys to Syria between February and July. According to the organization, Türkiye does not meet the EU's safe third country criteria for refugees. (WM/VK)