Wednesday 15.04.

The release of refugees from the quarantine camps continues. 

At 10am, we received an update that 800 people from the Malatya quarantine camp were supposed to be moved today, and the remainder moved tomorrow. One group has been directly kicked out of the camp after refusing to sign some documents. 

The refugees received information they would be transported to the cities in which they had previously resided before going to Pazarkule, luckily not back to Pazarkule itself or to the coast, like many others before them. 

Security forces intended to separate the refugees by gender before transportation. Understandably, this caused protests and heightened levels of fear amongst the refugees. At around 2pm, officials abandoned the plan for separation, and the first buses left the camp with 2 officers per vehicle. They were not obliged to sign any documents. Some Afghani refugees told us there was a possibility they may be taken to a camp in the south.

The buses that ASAM had organised the day before for those stranded in Izmir began to arrive at 1pm, confirmed by a contact who had just arrived in Mersin- grateful for finally being at home and able to shower and rest after 6 weeks of constant movement and uncertainty. 

Several hours later, the first buses left Malatya. The first group arrived in Adana at 7pm, and received new documents from the immigration office. 

At 8pm, a group of Afghani people arrived in Sivas, and waited for help outside the immigration office. Another bus with a different group of Aghani citizens arrived at the city center of Sanliurfa at 8.09pm, where they were subsequently left. The majority of them were left on their own, including a family with four adults and four children. As ASAM stated they would not organize any help for them (the reasons to which are still uncertain), we were able to arrange housing for them for one night through our local contacts, and covered the cost of travel for a bus the next day which allowed them to return to their original city. 

Thursday, 16.04.2020

At 1am, another group consisting of 100 people from the Malatya Camp were released in Gaziantep, and again were left without further support or advice. Fortunately, the majority of them were from Gaziantep and surrounding villages. We provided them with the numbers of NGOs in Gaziantep, whom they were able to call in order to ask for help. This new support system worked efficiently and transportation was arranged at a more rapid rate than previously had been.

The same situation unfortunately occurred with a group of 100 Syrians who were taken to Mersin. Half of the group were transported home, and others were able to stay in a hotel in order to wait for further transportation in the morning.

Around 40 minutes later, a family of six contacted us from Gaziantep asking help. We asked for help from local volunteers in Gaziantep to search for other groups in the morning, and check locations where people had been dropped off in order to ensure that nobody had been left behind. It is amazing to see how fast help can be organized! 

At 10am, we heard again from the group that had been staying in the hotel room in Mersin, who were at the migration office in Mersin, hoping to find help for accommodation, as they had no permanent place to return to. 

During the day, everything seemed more calm, as no more groups had been released. Our partners in Istanbul continued to distribute food baskets to refugees who had been affected by the COVID-19-lockdown, and also to those returning from the quarantine camps who were also in desperate need of support.
Our local partners in Edirne informed us that from the original group of 250 people who remained, most had now returned back to their cities. Around 100 still remain in the area and our partners continue to provide them with much needed support. 

At 8pm, we were informed that those who remained in Malatya would soon be moved and driven during the night. ASAM, UNHCR’s local partner, had been set up to wait in some of the bigger cities in the immigration offices in order to provide tickets to those who had been transported. Together with our local partners, we managed to implement a functioning communication structure to provide stranded refugees quickly with the numbers of local NGOs to call and ask for help.

A group of 100 people who had recently been taken to the deportation prison in Çanakkale left the deportation prison at around 10pm, without knowing their next location. The destination turned out to be yet another quarantine camp, but the reasons as to why are still unclear. At least they reported that the conditions there are better than those in the deportation prison, reporting to us that “there are no soldiers here. Not even police forces!”

Another group of 17 people were transported from the Çanakkale prison to Burdur. The group had no permanent residence close to the area before they arrived at the border in March, and  do not want to be there. We sent them our prepared warning against sea crossings and are alert for updates on the situation.

Friday, 17.04.2020

The buses from Malatya were reported to still be on the road at around 7am, most of them heading north but in various undisclosed directions. 

At 9.45am the first 2 buses arrived at their respective final locations: 60 people from Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan had been taken to Kirikkale. They were forced to disembark the buses and were not permitted to use toilets. We distributed the numbers for various NGOs amongst them, and an hour later they were waiting at the immigration office. At 11.30am, the people were mostly sorted and ASAM arrived at the spot to help with ID-registration and to organize transport.

50 people arrived in Izmir in the morning around 8 am, they called several of the NGO numbers - but either they did not pick up or referred them to the police. Long time nothing happend, the local volunteers tried to reach them but were not allowed to by the police. Finally in the afternoon a bus arrived, stood there for a couple of hours again and in the end transported them back to the camp in Izmir. We lost contact with them, not sure if the phone was taken away or if the reception is blocked.

We later heard from a very vulnerable group of Irani people, with whom we lost contact with on Saturday. They were released in Kutayha, and were feeling increasingly tired and desperate. 

A group of 35 people who had been released from Osmaniye camp on Monday were still waiting for help, currently staying in a gym in Nigde. They spent the first night in the streets, and then stayed in a mosque until they were removed, and police organized for their accommodation in the gym. Amongst them they have two elderly people and 3 children. Police are providing them with food, but so far nobody has managed to arrange transportation for them to return to Istanbul. 

At 6.30pm, a group of 50 people from the Malatya-Camp, consisting of mainly families, arrived in Trabzon and were dropped in the streets without help, money or food. They walked to the bus station and contacted our local partners, who provided them with the NGO numbers and the immigration office in Trabzon is now taking care of them. 

Around the same time, we heard from a group of 10 Syrians who were on their way from Malatiya quarantine camp to Mersin, where they will be dropped tomorrow morning. They have asked to be taken to Istanbul, where some of them were previously residing - but were told they would have to figure things out themselves once they reached Mersin.

The group of 100 people who were taken to another quarantine camp on Thursday were told that they would be released on Monday and taken to the nearest bus station, from where they would have to arrange to return home on their own - we are still waiting for updates. 

Another group of around 60-65 people, mainly families arrived from Malatya camp to Izmir tonight. They were taken to the nearby deportation prison, just like the group on saturday. And -same story- we lost the contact, so their phones were most likely taken away. They were told they will stay until monday morning for sure.

In summary of the recent events, it could be said people are still being seemingly randomly moved, with no established plan or strategy. The help structures we have activated by contacting local NGOs work extremely well for most, yet some others still remain left behind. 

The remaining question is, why are people treated like chess pieces, dropped in the middle of the night somewhere in the streets? Why can they be treated like that?