Early this morning, the Turkish «Civil Solidarity Initiative» of the city of Van issued a Statement on the incident in the local deportation center that occurred with Turkmen migrants.
Earlier, THF rep orted about the beating of Turkmen migrants in this establishment.
We contacted Turkish NGOs, and members of the Van City Solidarity Initiative (VAN SDİ) visited the institution.
The meeting was attended by the Chairman of VAN SDİ Memur-Sen, his colleagues Mehmet Ali Uja, Mahmut Gulachar, as well as a representative of the Özgür-Der branch in the city of Van and the head of the VAN SDİ Commission on Rights and Justice Nejip Erginyurek. Turkish human rights activists met with the director of the Van Deportation Center, Mr. Fyrat Guresh: «We were explained that the incident occurred due to the fact that 128 (Turkmen) migrants were divided into groups and distributed to different floors and sections in the Deportation Center».
According to the Statement, several people detained at the Center have already completed the procedure for obtaining a residence permit; others are under consideration; for the third, under the control of lawyers, the process of consideration of their cases in the courts continues. For the remaining migrants, the issue will be resolved after a meeting of Turkish officials with Turkmen diplomats upon receipt of a response from them.
Turkey has earned high levels of trust by hosting the largest number of migrants in the world, it said. The initiators of the meeting recalled that Turkey signed the UN Convention against Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, the Law on Foreigners, etc., which obliges it to suppress negative attitudes towards the influx of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, which causes the latter to suffer.
The message especially emphasized the readiness of the Center's management to cooperate and interest in resolving the problem.
We are grateful to our Turkish colleagues for their efficiency and assistance provided to Turkmen migrants.
Turkmen Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
