Over 4 million registered foreign residents in Turkey

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that, as of November 2024, there were 4.17 million registered foreign residents in Turkey, including 2.4 million Syrians.

Wednesday December 04 2024 10:57 pm

Duvar English

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that as of Nov. 30, 2024, Turkey hosted 4.17 million registered regular foreign residents, including 2.94 million Syrians, 1.031 million with residence permits, and 201,000 under international protection.

A "registered regular foreign resident" refers to a non-citizen who has officially documented their residency within Turkey.

Minister Yerlikaya noted that a new address verification had been conducted for all foreigners, stating, "We checked the addresses of each individual. Of these, 731,000 were not found at their registered addresses. They were given a deadline, and 580,000 updated their addresses.”

The minister added that addresses of nearly 150,000 could not be located.

“We asked the Family Ministry, Health Ministry, and Education Ministry, ‘When was the last time you provided services to these families?’ None had received assistance, and their children, if in school, had stopped attending. They have not accessed healthcare either. These families are missing. We believe that they have likely migrated to Europe,” Yerlikaya said.

Yerlikaya stated that the introduction of a notification requirement for address updates related to regular migration would start from the first week of 2025. The ministry will introduce a mobile application that has been developed to send continuous location-based updates confirming users' presence.

If a user's location sharing is disabled or notifications are not sent, police or gendarmerie will intervene, as each individual will be assigned to law enforcement oversight. The system will identify discrepancies at the end of each month among the 2.94 million individuals monitored, and authorities will conduct investigations.

The minister stated that the repeated failure to provide location updates without a valid reason would result in the individual being transferred to a refugee camp after two warnings.

Yerlikaya stated, "We are continuing our efforts to combat irregular migration without interruption. There is a 78-kilometer gap along the Iranian border, which we will close in 2025 with a 10 billion lira investment. We have no issues with the borders of Syria and Iraq. So far, 230,000 attempts to cross border walls have been prevented, and 213,000 individuals have been deported during this cabinet's term."

Minister Yerlikaya announced that this year, 11,652 operations targeting migrant smuggling organizers resulted in 7,077 arrests, while 2,897 individuals were released under judicial control.

He added, "Turkey has 32 repatriation centers across 25 cities. During this cabinet's term, 574,000 individuals who overstayed their visas or residence permits have become undocumented. Meanwhile, 182,000 Syrians voluntarily returned to their country during this period, and since 2016, a total of 737,000 have voluntarily returned."

Yerlikaya stated that of the 2.94 million Syrians in Turkey, 42%, or 1.25 million, were from Aleppo, 190,000 were from Idlib, and 107,000 were from Deir ez-Zur. He noted that while 4,000 Syrians per month voluntarily returned to their country in 2016, this figure increased to 11,450 per month in 2024.

The Minister stated, "We support Syria’s territorial integrity. We do not want terror hubs or puppet regimes there, nor do we want attacks originating from the region. Everyone wants to return to their land. We know how attached the people of Aleppo are to their city. We are in contact with them, and they are very happy and excited. However, the area needs to be cleared first. To those eager to return immediately, we say, 'Wait.' It is not safe yet. The information we receive indicates that 'now is not the right time.'"