Istanbul Governorate orders Syrians registered elsewhere to leave the city

Istanbul Governorate orders Syrians registered elsewhere to leave the city
Istanbul Governorate said in a statement Monday (July 22) that Syrian nationals without registration or registered elsewhere in Turkey will be transferred to provinces determined by the Ministry of Interior.

The statement said there are 1,069,860 registered foreigners in Istanbul, made up of 522,381 foreigners with residence permits and 547,479 Syrians under temporary protection status. This constitutes one-fifteenth of the population of Turkey's economic and cultural population, as Turkish Statistical Institute (Turkstat) figures as of December 2018 put the megacity's population at 15,029,231.

Syrians without temporary protection status and without registry and proper identification are being transferred to determined provinces according to a directive of the Ministry of Interior, the statement said, adding that Istanbul is closed to further registration for temporary protection status.

Accordingly, a deadline until Aug. 20, 2019, has been set for foreigners of Syrian nationality who are in Istanbul although they were registered in another province.

"Those who were found to have not returned will be transferred to the provinces where they are registered according to the Ministry of Interior directive," the statement said.

It noted that monitoring for travel permission documents will be carried out continuously at all bus stations, train stations, airports and all other means of transportation throughout Istanbul and Syrian guests under temporary protection status without proper travel documentation will be returned to the provinces in which they are registered.

Foreign nationals with legal rights to reside in Istanbul should keep their passports and/or their temporary protection identity cards at all times to be presented to security forces during routine checks, the governorate said.

The announcement comes at a time when issues related to Syrian refugees and their future in the country are at the forefront of Turkish public opinion and the political scene.

Turkey is home to some 4.5 million Syrian refugees who fled the war which has been ongoing since 2011, when Assad regime brutally repressed peaceful calls for democracy.

Based on Daily Sabah

التعليقات (0)

    0

    الأكثر قراءة

    💡 أهم المواضيع

    ✨ أهم التصنيفات