INTRODUCTION
"There must be a way for refugees to become legal and there must also be a legal way for municipalities to assist them" [State official within a local municipality commenting on the legal barriers to persons who are in need of international protection in Turkey]
On 8 December 2007 Turkish and international media outlets began reporting that bodies had been discovered on the shore of western Turkey close to the port city of =DDzmir after the sinking of a boat carrying dozens of people attempting to reach Greece. During the next days, reports of the number of bodies rose to 50 while the number of survivors remained at 10. It is thought that the number of persons aboard the overcrowded and unseaworthy vessel was even higher but the total number of persons who lost their lives is not known. This is far from being an isolated incident. Such a tragedy illustrates the desperation faced by persons trying to reach Europe. While some of them may be in need of international protection, they are caught between EU states employing ever greater measures to prevent access to would-be asylum-seekers and Turkey, which fails to uphold its responsibilities to provide international protection.
Turkey maintains a geographical limitation to the Refugee Convention and refuses to recognize persons of non-European origin as refugees. This results in a complex legal and practical situation in which refugees, asylum-seekers and other persons who may be in need of international protection are denied such protection. Despite this limitation, Turkey remains a country of asylum for thousands of persons fleeing persecution from non-European countries. In 2006 the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR which conducts refugee status determination for non-European asylum-seekers in Turkey, received 4,550 new asylum applications from non-European asylum-seekers, 7,650 in 2007 and in 2008, 12,980 new applications, representing a 70 per cent increase from the previous year. In 2007 there were 12,630 persons of concern to the UNHCR in Turkey from countries including Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia among others. In addition to this number, the Office of the Head of the Turkish Armed Forces announced in October 2007 that more than 29,000 irregular migrants had been apprehended by the armed forces between January and October 2007. It is accepted by human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working with refugees in Turkey that among the number of irregular migrants there exist persons in need of international protection and that the number of irregular migrants apprehended is far less than the number of persons entering Turkey. However, no reliable figures for the number of persons entering Turkey irregularly are available.
Amnesty International is concerned that persons in need of international protection in Turkey are prevented from accessing their internationally recognized rights due to Turkish asylum regulations that do not conform to international standards and which are unfairly and arbitrarily applied. They are denied an opportunity to apply for asylum either at Turkey's borders or after being arbitrarily detained. Those that are able to submit an application do not have access to a fair and satisfactory national refugee status determination system and face severe restrictions in gaining access to health, adequate housing and work. Furthermore, Amnesty International is concerned that refugees, asylum-seekers and others in need of international protection are forcibly returned to countries where they are at risk of persecution in breach of the principle of non-refoulement.
Amnesty International calls upon the Turkish authorities to lift the geographical limitation to the Refugee Convention and to legislate for and implement a fair and satisfactory national asylum procedure. This should ensure in particular that all persons who may be in need of international protection are granted access to the refugee status determination system with full procedural safeguards and that the rights of asylum-seekers, refugees and others in need of international protection are respected. Amnesty International also calls upon the EU to grant further technical assistance to Turkey in achieving this and to share responsibility with Turkey in ensuring that the rights of persons who are in need of international protection are respected.
In the process of compiling this report Amnesty International delegates conducted interviews in February and May 2008 in Ankara, Istanbul, =DDzmir, Kayseri and Van, with refugees, asylum-seekers and other persons who may be in need of international protection, and with government authorities, intergovernmental agencies, NGOs and lawyers working with refugees.