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Pray for Afghan asylum seekers fleeing from Taliban
Afghans fleeing Taliban cross Turkish borders in thousands By Ahval (July 11, 2021) Pink area: Under control of the Afghan Government, NATO, and Allies White area: Under control of the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and Allies 07/19/21 updated ©Ali Zifan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Up to 1,000 Afghans enter Turkey illegally via the eastern borders every day as tens of thousands look for a way to escape Taliban’s increasing hold over Afghanistan, daily Hürriyet reported on Saturday.
According to border authorities, the majority of Afghan nationals reaching Turkish territory are young men aged 16 to 25, who arrive in Turkey after a month-long journey mostly on foot. More than 500,000 asylum seekers, a significant portion of them Afghans, entered Turkey illegally via the border in Van province alone in 2020, Hürriyet said, citing official figures. Due to Turkey’s immigration and asylum laws, only citizens of European countries are able to obtain refugee status. Persons of other nationalities can petition temporary protection from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Afghans who enter Turkey illegally are held in migrant detentin centres in Erzurum and other neighbouring provinces if they are caught, and deported from airports in Erzurum, Ağrı, Gaziantep and Izmir provinces, Hürriyet said. The recent uptick in illegal border crossings is due to the Taliban increasing its control over Afghanistan. In a press conference in Moscow, Taliban’s Mawlawi Shahabuddin Dilawar said the Sunni insurgent group had taken control of 85 percent of Afghanistan’s lands, tightening its grip on strategic areas, Reuters reported on Friday. Government officials have dismissed the claim. “Afghans are concerned that the Kabul government won’t be able to hold, and that pushes people to migrate,” said Metin Çorabatır, chairman of the Research Centre on Asylum and Migration. Among those seeking to immigrate are civil servants who fear a full Taliban rule, and Afghanistan’s urban white collar populations, he said. According to Çorabatır, people currently seeking ways to leave Afghanistan for Turkey wish to travel legally, seeking education, medical tourism or golden visas. However, very few have had their applications approved. “These people wish to obtain a visa somehow and come to Turkey to build a safe future, not to trek through countries by land, come to Turkey, and move on to Europe,” he said. Last week alone some 56,000 Afghans left their homes due to Taliban attacks, Hürriyet said citing U.N. figures. Since January, more than 223,000 Afghans have fled. The United States is planning to complete its withdrawal from Afghanistan by August 31, NBC News cited U.S. President Joe Biden as saying on Thursday. Saturday saw Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announce agreement with Washington on the scope of Turkey’s involvement with the securing of the Kabul airport after the withdrawal. Turkey has some 500 soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, and is not currently planning to increase that number. The country has petitioned its NATO allies to provide financial, political and logistical support for the mission to secure the airport. Source: https://ahvalnews.com/turkey-migration/afghans-fleeing-taliban-cross-turkish-borders-thousands |