The ultimate test of a government's commitment to human rights is the practices and attitudes of its agents towards immigrants and refugees as well as the level of the protection of human rights aliens.
On 14 July, approximately 205 African immigrants and refugees, detained at various points only on racial criteria in Istanbul on 7 July, were dumped into the border line between Turkey and Greece. Turkish gendarmery have been forcing them into the Greek side, while the Greek border police have been forcing them back into the Turkish side. It is alleged that three of them died, two of them have been raped, and the others are starving. They may be facing imminent death and other dangers to their safety.
According to our information sources, more than 200 African immigrants and refugees were arrewsted by Istanbul Police on 7 July. These people were kept under detention until 14 July, and then forced into the border zone between Turkey and Greece. In connection with this incident, our main concerns are the following:
1. The only criterion in this collective detention practice was the colour of the persons. They were not questioned under detention on the grounds for leaving their countries and staying in Turkey; neither were they questioned on their legal status in Turkey. There were no charges made to them, including the usual charge that they were "illegal immigrants".
2. It is reported that the detention conditions were inhuman, not providing the detainees food, clean water and sanitation. The sick persons were not provided with medical assistance while these persons, especially women, became sick due to general detention conditions, particularly the lack of clean drinking water. They were kept in crowded narrow cells for at least 7 days collectively.
3. The detainess were forced to sign statements in Turkish, saying that they entered Turkey from Greece and they wanted to go back to Greece on their own will. It is reported that 7 of these persons are still under detention as they did not sign those statements. It is also reported that the police tore down the pages of passports which contained the Turkish visa.
4. It is reported that 205 African immigrants and refugees were taken to Ipsala district at the Turkish-Greek border, and left there without food and water. They were forced to run into the Greek side, and warned by the Turkish gendarmery that they would be shot if they turned back. They were not admitted to the Greek side, and kept under Greek detention for one day, and forced to go back to the Turkish side, where they were forced to go back to the Turkish side again and again. It is learned that most of them are still staying there in the bush.
5. It is alleged that a man and a woman were raped by the gendarmery, that three persons were drowned in the water during their flight between two sides. These allegations should be clarified immediately.
6. Ms. Eren Keskin, the Chairwoman of Istanbul Branch of HRA, went to the Alien Police to visit the detainees on 18 July. Although she is entitled to visit detainees as a lawyer, her request for visit and information was rejected by the police.
According to the assessment by our Committee on the basis of individual application by African immigrants living in Istanbul, including a few who were detained during the mentioned collective detention, some of these persons might be refugees in terms of the grounds for leaving their countries. It is observed that some of these persons have been displaced due to fear of persecution connected with political, ethnic, religious and tribal discrimination as well as wide-spread violence and internal warfare or attacks by armed groups. They were deprived of protection by the state whose nationals they were. On the other hand, such persons have not started asylum procedures due to lack of information, and our Association has informed them on applications to the UNHCR.
On the other hand, we are concerned with the manner in which these persons were detained as well as detention conditions and the conditions under which they are kept now. This constitutes ill-treatment irrespective of their legal status in Turkey. The information we have gathered on detention conditions suggest that the conditions of detention at Istanbul Aliens Police have not changed since the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture made a statement on them after their 1997 visit.
Collective detention of persons only on the grounds of their colour needs particular emphasis. Such a practice raises the concern that security forces discriminate people on racial grounds. We observe that the discourse of Turkish authorities and the media on aliens living in Turkey, especially on African immigrants, strenthens xenophobic and racist attitudes in Turkey, and that this is reflected in teh attitudes of the security forces. We consider that no one can be seen as unwanted guests on the grounds of their colour. The people of Turkey have never wanted the security forces to homogenise the country. Turkey is not an homogenous country and will never be.
The right of the persons who are displaced and forced to leave their countries due to fear should at least be welcomed in another country; this is a long-rooted tration of humanity.
The HRA declares that the ultimate test of a government's commitment to human rights is the practices and attitudes of its agents towards immigrants and refugees as well as the level of the protection of aliens' human rights.
Moreover, whereas the Turkish government signed the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees with a geographical limitation, this limitation is only connected to the exclusion of non-European refugees from the right to seek asylum within Turkey; it does not entitle Turkey to exclude those persons from the Convention guarantees, including the obligation to test whether these persons need international protection or not.
The principles of international refugee law have to be applied to every person who may need international protection. Particularly, the geographical limitation does not exempt Turkey from its obligations to allow people to stay in Turkey until they are granted the refugee status and/or resettled in another country, neither does it entitle the Turkish government to exempt its obligations under international and European conventions to protect human rights of aliens from non-European countries.
The HRA declares that if the situation of African immigrants cannot be remedied by the judiciary in Turkey, it will have to bring the issue to the European Court of Human Rights and other international mechanisms.
In particular, the fact that these persons were dumped into the border zone, in a way to deport them without an opportunity to judical scrutiny, risking their safety and survival, cannot be accepted in humanitarian terms. While the governments may deport persons, they can only implement such practices for good and justified reasons and in respect of the due process of law and human rights. Deportation of persons should not amount to ill-treatment and inhuman treatment, and not risk person's life and safety.
Unfortunately, tens of thousands of people are deported from Turkey on the pretext that they are "illegal immigrants", without questioning whether they need international protection or they are simply economic immigrants. Such practices seem to be completely under the discretion of security forces and immune both from political control and, certainly, from judiciary review. Immigration and asylum have become an area left completely to security forces in Turkey.
Furthermore, the right of human rights activists to monitor alleged violations is now a principle of international human rights law. We protest the prevention of Ms. Eren Keskin from visiting the detainees. We should point out that she is entitled to visit detainees as a lawyer. In preventing her, the police deprived the detainees of their right to be provided with legal assistance too.
We call upon the government and the general public for humanitarian assistance to the immigrants and refugees awaiting the determination of their fate and facing imminent death due to dehydration and hunger, and for immediate clarification of their situation. We request the authorities not to prevent the commission that the HRA is planning to send for monitoring the situation in Ipsala border zone.
Finally, this last incident is one of the tragic examples of the Turkish authorities' policies on the issue of "illegal immigration" and non-European refugees. We reiterate our firm stance against the illegal and dangereous trafficking of human persons, while emphasising that such operations are not independent of European and Turkish practices restricting and circumventing the right to seek asylum. The HRA will publicise its report on this issue as soon as possible.
Our concern here is the unlawful and inhumane nature of practices regarding "illegal immigrants" and refugees. The HRA calls upon the authorities to improve such practices and regulate them in strict compliance with international human rights standards.
The HRA declares that, at this point, the African immigrants trapped in the border zone are not under the protection of any state, and the HRA considers them having the same status with refugees under human rights law, in terms of requiring international protection, as long as they are kept there and as long as it is not clarified whether the protection of their countries of origin are available for them individually or not.
Human Rights Association