'Turkey takes all measures against illegal migration'

By Burak Bir

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's interior minister said the country would take all kinds of measures against illegal migration.

In an interview to Turkish broadcaster NTV, Suleyman Soylu elaborated on Wednesday on the precautions Ankara had taken to prevent illegal border crossings to TurkWalls are constructed alongside the borders and physical measures are taken by utilization of night vision cameras and sensor systems," Soylu said.

He underlined that Turkey had action plans in place for migration-related issues, including the Migration Strategy Document, Harmonization Strategy Document and Strategy Document on Combating Irregular Migration.

- Irregular migration

Soylu highlighted that despite all measures, there were people who came to Turkey illegally, putting their lives at risk.

"Migrants began their journey to hope by fleeing their country and putting their lives on the line. within six and a half months in 2019, 144 persons have lost their lives due to drowning, traffic accidents or by freezing to death," he said.

Soylu stressed that 163,000 irregular migrants have so far been apprehended within Turkey since the beginning of 2019, down from 268,000 last year and 175,000 in 2017.

- Temporary protection system

Soylu added that Turkey took crucial steps over the past eight years to provide temporary protection refugees including Syrians.

He underlined that people under temporary protection were registered carefully over 57 data fields covering information ranging from the schools they attended to the number of siblings they have, their blood types and their fingerprints.

Those under the temporary protection "must be settled" in cities where they were officially registered, he added

Soylu said that new registrations were not allowed in some provinces, including Istanbul, except for "humanitarian reasons" such as medical treatment or education.

He stressed that it was the duty of the Interior Ministry to establish "order in the provinces."

- Syrians in Istanbul

Not a single recipients of temporary protection in Turkey will be deported, Soylu underlined.

"No Syrians under temporary protection have been deported so far and they will never be. Those from countries such as Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Morocco and Algeria are referred to removal centers to be returned to their countries of origin," he said.

He added that there were also Syrian refugees who voluntarily wanted to go to "safe zones" that Turkey established in Syria.

Refugees who resided in Istanbul despite not being registered there, on the other hand, will be referred to camps if they failed to leave the province by Aug. 20, Soylu added.

Touching on the "new action" that have just begun, Soylu expressed that they were checking business in Istanbul on employing illegal migrants and employers will pay a large amount of fine those who will keep employing after about and a half month.

Suleyman Soylu also added that they are taking a steps to keep 75% percent of the business signs in Turkish.

Turkey has been the main route for refugees trying to cross to Europe since 2011, when the civil war in Syria began.