Around 1,600 Afghan Nationals Detained in Turkey

The Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations (MoRR) announced the imprisonment of nearly 1,600 Afghan immigrants in Turkey.

The deputy minister of MoRR, Abdul Rahman Rashid, said that efforts are being made to release Afghan immigrants from Turkish prisons, and since the beginning of 1402 (solar year), nearly 600 Afghan immigrants have been released from Turkish prisons and returned to the country.

He added that a delegation from Afghanistan has discussed with the Turkish authorities about the transfer and release of these prisoners.

The deputy minister of MoRR, said: “The reports given to us by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or our attachés, shows that maybe 1,600, more or less, are prisoners.”

Earlier, some Turkish media reported the arrest of nearly 60 Afghan immigrants in Turkey.

Meanwhile, representatives of Afghan immigrants in Turkey criticized the inappropriate behavior and non-renewal of Afghan immigrants’ visas in this country.

Ezatullah, the representative of Afghan immigrants in Turkey, said: “Those who do not have legal documents and are arrested anywhere, will be deported to Afghanistan, or those who get repatriation from the consulate may be detained in deportation centers for years and months.”

“One of the problems of immigrants is not renewing their residence permits. Recently the Turkish immigration department made the condition for renewing residence permits more difficult,” said Gul Agha Mohammadi, an Afghan immigrant in Turkey.

“The lack of documents, the lack of employment insurance, the negative view of society, the deprivation of citizenship, economic and social discrimination have made the work of immigrants more difficult,” said Yortesh, another Afghan immigrant in Turkey.

According to the statistics of MoRR, about 300,000 Afghan immigrants are currently living in Turkey.