Regarded as a nation bridging Europe and Asia, Turkey holds control over the amount of refugees entering Europe from mostly neighbouring Middle Eastern countries as well as African countries and the Indian subcontinent. Due to the large amount of migrants crossing through Turkey, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) made an agreement to “provide some degree of protection and status determination” for asylum seekers and refugees. The UNHCR defines a refugee as a person “who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion”. As a result of wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, many
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The majority of nations part of the EU encourage a strong asylum policy yet have restrictive border control. This theme is common with unwanted migrant deterrence manifested through strict and arbitrary policies. Likewise, the intensity of immigration control has lead to migrants relying on illegal methods of entering asylum countries such as human smuggling. With that leads to “other illicit transnational activities: the trafficking of women and children for sexual purposes, narcotics and firearms smuggling, and possibly also terrorism”. Therefore, Turkish immigration laws force non-conventional refugees to enter the country illegally and participate in illegal practices. Hence, Turkey is left where, at present, with the lack of resources it cannot regulate the number of migrants in the country illegally and if it goes up to par with the EU’s standards, it may further worsen the government’s control of migrant flows. Perhaps, if Turkey does become a member of the EU, the organization might expect Turkey to revise its laws on asylum seekers who can settle in the country. Although if Turkey considers lifting the Law of Settlement – in which only those of Turkish descent can settle in the country—, this may very well increase the number of migrants moving to a Turkey that is already underfunded for its dense population of refugees. Also, the aforementioned migrants may then migrate to the same Western European countries that pressured Turkey to elevate refugee policies in order to prevent migrant
The majority of nations part of the EU encourage a strong asylum policy yet have restrictive border control. This theme is common with unwanted migrant deterrence manifested through strict and arbitrary policies. Likewise, the intensity of immigration control has lead to migrants relying on illegal methods of entering asylum countries such as human smuggling. With that leads to “other illicit transnational activities: the trafficking of women and children for sexual purposes, narcotics and firearms smuggling, and possibly also terrorism”. Therefore, Turkish immigration laws force non-conventional refugees to enter the country illegally and participate in illegal practices. Hence, Turkey is left where, at present, with the lack of resources it cannot regulate the number of migrants in the country illegally and if it goes up to par with the EU’s standards, it may further worsen the government’s control of migrant flows. Perhaps, if Turkey does become a member of the EU, the organization might expect Turkey to revise its laws on asylum seekers who can settle in the country. Although if Turkey considers lifting the Law of Settlement – in which only those of Turkish descent can settle in the country—, this may very well increase the number of migrants moving to a Turkey that is already underfunded for its dense population of refugees. Also, the aforementioned migrants may then migrate to the same Western European countries that pressured Turkey to elevate refugee policies in order to prevent migrant