According to information from the Migration Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkey, since the beginning of 2022, the police have checked 3,792,198 foreign citizens for legal stay in the country. The raids were carried out with the participation of employees of the migration service and the gendarmerie.
On October 11, the Migration Directorate of the Turkish Ministry of Internal Affairs notified the population of the need to declare the address registration of foreigners. From that moment on, the raids became more frequent. If during the inspection facts of fictitious registration are discovered, a corresponding document is drawn up, including based on a survey of neighbors. Violators may be subject to administrative and criminal liability.
We called the 24-hour Foreigners Contact Center (YIMER) (numbers: 157 or +90 312 157 11 22), where the person on duty confirmed: “In accordance with Article 50 of the Public Services Law No. 5490, illegally registered Turkish and foreign citizens may be administrative or judicial sanctions have been applied. The entire legalization procedure takes place locally in the migration institutions of the Turkish Republic."
According to the source, apartments were also discovered in which more than 10 “dead souls” were registered. Some apartment owners have already begun making inquiries to clarify the number of citizens registered with them.
The adopted law directly affected the possibility of legal residence in Turkey for immigrants from Turkmenistan as well. As is known, thousands of Turkmen citizens have been unable to renew/receive biometric passports at consular offices, including in Istanbul, for years, and therefore are forced to become illegal immigrants. The new rule put them in an even more hopeless situation, that is why the raids that began caused panic among the Turkmen migrants.
Even those who have a residence permit show concern. Now, they must contact the relevant institutions to confirm their place of residence, otherwise an administrative or criminal case may be brought against them, including arrest and sending to a deportation camp.
In addition, those Turkmen migrants for whom renting a living space was unaffordable turned to private companies that issued officially registered certificates from a fictitious place of residence for an additional fee. That is, employees of private structures, breaking the law, registered dozens of migrants in the same living space. Now the authorities are trying to stop this practice.
Turkmen Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
