Minister points out October for further measure against illegal migration

ANKARA

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has said his ministry will strengthen measures and inspection against irregular migration across the country when the deportation center in Istanbul will be put into service on Oct. 1.

As one of the countries hosting a significant number of refugees in the world, Türkiye has recently intensified its efforts to combat irregular migration with increased inspections, especially in Istanbul.

Accordingly, on Aug. 22 Yerlikaya stated that when the deportation center in Istanbul is put into service on Oct. 1, the stringent controls currently limited to the metropolis will be implemented throughout the country.

Choosing Istanbul as the pilot region for undocumented migrant inspections, security forces captured numerous irregular migrants during inspections across the city, particularly in districts and neighborhoods with high refugee populations.

Yerlikaya also noted that security personnel deployed at the "mobile migration inspection points" established in Istanbul apprehended 21,000 irregular migrants in the past month through their interrogations, who were subsequently sent to deportation centers.

Emphasizing the ministry’s classification of migrants into "regular" and "irregular," Yerlikaya highlighted that the inspections target not only those who illegally enter the country but also foreigners who entered Türkiye legally but continue to reside beyond their permitted duration.

"In other words, we have foreigners in our country who are legally staying and those who are residing illegally. We currently have 4.8 million regular migrants in our country. Nearly 1.2 million of them consist of foreigners who legally reside here by obtaining residence permits. Additionally, there are 292,289 foreigners with international protection status," Yerlikaya explained.

"Moreover, there are 3.3 million Syrians under temporary protection in our country. However, the others, namely irregular migrants, have either entered our country through illegal means or arrived with visas but have violated their legal stay duration, leading to a visa overstay situation."

The minister also noted that it will collaborate with governorates on inspecting irregular migrants starting from October.