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 issued a security restriction code, for example on suspicion of being foreign terrorist fighters (Yabancı Terörist Savaşçı, YTS).
While Removal Centres (Geri Gönderme Merkezi, GGM) 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). According to PMM, as of April 2023, there are 30 active Removal Centres in Türkiye (including two temporary removal centres).[1] The EU provides support for migration management under its pre-accession assistance to Türkiye.
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”,[2] and that they fall within the scope of the Accelerated Procedure.[3]
[1] See PMM, Removal Centres, available at: https://bit.ly/2PThCl9.
[2] Article 68(5) LFIP.
[3] Article 79(1)(ç) LFIP.