Migration Policy, Research and Communications
Quick Facts on Turkey and Irregular Migration-2009
In 2009 nearly 25 million people have transited throught Turkish borders and about 170, 000 permits of stays were issued, a number of 32,000 irregular migrants were apprehended by the national police. Many factors originate these flows, some of them well beyond Turkeys’ borders and this makes effective management of migration and contrasting irregular flows a very challenging task. Turkey’ dynamic economy along coupled with a complex geo strategic regional context and also Turkeys trend towards integration with the EU, all make of Turkey an increasingly attractive destination. |
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Irregular migration flows through Turkey are bound to continue in future. In that regard, IOM is continuing to support Turkey’s efforts to build a comprehensive migration system that rises up to the multiple challenges that Turkey’s unique geographical position poses.
The preparation of the Roadmap on Asylum and Migration has been included in the National Programme of Turkey which is been coordinated by the The Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Turkey, Bureau on Development and Implementation of the Legislation on Asylum and Migration and Administrative Capacity. Within the scope of the close cooperation and coordination between International Organization for Migration and the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Turkey, IOM’s inclusion in the drafting process of the legislation on managing migration has been requested by the Bureau in October 2009, since then IOM has been providing assistance to the Bureau in formulating a new law, and relevant by-laws, on foreigners and in managing irregular migratory inflows by assisting with the establishment of a working group made of governmental authorities, academics and civil society.
AVR support is continuing to be a priority for IOM Turkey, which is an effective mechanism to assist stranded irregular migrants and to relief the congested reception facilities. IOM is planing to provide emergency assistance and capacity building to ensure the voluntary return of stranded migrants, especially vulnerable cases.
In the area of counter-trafficking, Turkey recently signed the Council of Europe (CoE) Convention and the approval of the Second National Action Plan, to this end, IOM will continue to support Turkey’s counter-trafficking efforts through promoting regional dialogue within the Black Sea Economic Region, improving transnational coordination through better integration of the various national legal systems.
IOM will also help strengthen the capacity of border police to combat forgery of travel documents and to identify vulnerable migrants by promoting exchanges with counter-part officials in the EU.
Migration Research:
As the leading inter-governmental organization that works with migrants and governments to meet emerging migration challenges, IOM provides information, advice and support for the development of effective migration management policies and strategies. IOM conducts, coordinated researches on migration issues and disseminates research results through publications worldwide. In parallel to that, IOM funded project named, “Supporting Turkey’s Efforts on Migration Management” is aiming to provide platform for academics, governmental officials and civil society representatives to support the enhancement of the national capacity through consolidating existing migration related resources and knowledge among academia, governmental institutions and civil society in Turkey.
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