Statistics on pre-removal detention of asylum seekers and other migrants are not available. There are no statistics available on the number of persons applying from detention across the country either.
While most international protection applicants are not systematically detained, categories of international protection applicants most commonly detained include:
- Persons who make an international protection application in border premises;
- Persons who apply for international protection after being intercepted for irregular presence and being placed in a Removal Centre, including persons readmitted to Türkiye from another country;
- Persons who have made an application for international protection and are apprehended without documentation or outside their assigned province (“satellite city”) without authorisation;
- Persons who wish to apply for international protection but were unable to submit their application before a PDMM office (Access to Registration)
- Persons issued a security restriction code, for example on suspicion of being foreign terrorist fighters (Yabancı Terörist Savaşçı, YTS).
While Removal Centres (Geri Gönderme Merkezi, RC) are essentially defined as facilities dedicated for administrative detention for the purpose of removal, in practice they are also used to detain international protection applicants (see Place of Detention). There are 32 active Removal Centres.[1] In the first quarter of 2024, two temporary Removal Centers became operational in Istanbul’s Arnavutköy district: Arnavutköy Temporary Removal Center-1 on 2 January 2024, and Arnavutköy Temporary Removal Center-2 on 27 March 2024. As a result, the total national capacity increased to 18,630. In the second quarter, a new Removal Center was opened in Çatalca, while the one in Silivri was closed. Additionally, the capacities of the Aydın and Balıkesir Removal Centers were reduced. Consequently, the total national capacity stood at 18,780 in the second quarter of 2024. It is planned that another Removal Center will be opened in Istanbul in the upcoming period, with the total capacity expected to reach 19,000 by the end of 2024.[2]
There is no official data on the number of asylum seekers detained in removal centres. However, many of these centres operate over capacity, and the turnover of people is very high.[3]
The LFIP provides that international protection applications of detained applicants other than requiring that applications of detained applicants shall be finalised “as quickly as possible”,[4] and that they fall within the scope of the Accelerated Procedure.[5] (See also: Applications from detention and at the border)
[1] PMM, Faaliyet Raporu, 2024, available here.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Information provided by stakeholders, March – April 2024.
[4] Article 68(5) LFIP.
[5] Article 79(1)(ç) LFIP.