Cyprus
is located at the crossroad of three continents and has been a convenient place
for the refugees throughout its history. Due to its proximity to problematic
regions, Cyprus has been an easy access country for asylum seekers, who want to
flee from the oppressive regimes and for the immigrants, who are seeking a more
prosperous life and migrate from their country of origin merely for economic
reasons. Today, thousands of people, who want to enter the EU, use Cyprus as a
transit centre.
Right
after the military occupation of northern part of our island in 1974, Turkey
sent thousands of Anatolian refugees in order to settle in the occupied part of
Cyprus, according to the Turkish policy of colonization. They were given the
homes and the properties of the Greek Cypriots, who fled from the invading
Turkish troops to the south of the island. An illegal state, “Turkish Republic
of Northern Cyprus” was declared in 1983 unilaterally on the Turkish occupied
areas of the island. Thousands of Anatolian settlers were given the citizenship
of the “TRNC” and they have been voting along with the Turkish Cypriots in the
local and general elections.
On 9 March 2009, the Afrika newspaper announced that according to the information the newspaper gathered, the number of the original Turkish Cypriot voters was 62,500, i.e. one third of the total number of the voters of the approximately 180,000 voters. About 47,000 Turkish citizens were waiting to get the citizenship of the TRNC after the elections, the newspaper added. Writing in the same newspaper, the columnist Turgut Afsaroglu estimated that there were 173,000 voters, out of which 63,000 were of Cypriot and the remaining of Turkish origin. According to the last census, made on 4 December 2011, the population of the TRNC was declared as 294,906. This number excludes tourists, temporary workers and people, who stayed in the “TRNC” for less than a year.
It
is estimated that there are about 200,000 illegal Turkish workers, who came to
the island for a better living, either with their families or as individuals.
In recent years, 30-40 thousand Turkish workers returned to Anatolia because of
economic reasons und unemployment. Now, there is a demand for cheaper
labourers, coming from the third countries, like Philippines, Pakistan,
Turkmenistan, Azerbaidjan, China, Vietnam and Bangladesh.
According
to police statistics, between 2000 to August 2012, a total of 2,526 refugees
entered the Turkish occupied northern Cyprus either through seaports or
airports. 139 refugees entered through Ercan (Tymboo) airport. 122 refugees
entered through Kyrenia Tourism Seaport and 156 through Famagusta Seaport,
making a total of 417 persons, who used the official ports of entry. The
remaining 2,109 persons entered the occupied areas illegally from various
seashores, using mainly the Karpasia peninsula. Those, who could not be caught
up and landed illegally are not included in this number. They were able to
cross the green-line and take refuge in South Cyprus.
Although
there is a difference between a migrant and a refugee at least in legal terms,
they are categorized under the same title in North Cyprus. Due to the lack of
information in the general public and the media, the issue of refugees is often
associated with human smuggling and the human rights dimension of these
refugees are being discussed lately. Each time a person enters the TRNC
through“illegal” or rather “unregulated” ways, s/he is mentioned as a refugee
in the media, therefore, people, who might have migrated for economical reasons
are confused with those, who could be a refugee.
Below you will find the number of refugees, caught in the last ten years in North Cyprus:
Year Refugees
2000 32
2001 192
2002 114
2003 100
2004 163
2005 241
2006 398
2007 328
2009 125
2010 27
2011 47
2012 August 10
Total: 2,526
Most
of the refugees came from Syria (1705) and Iraq (376), where a war is going on.
The nationalities of 178 refugees were not identified and 76 Syrian illegal
immigrants could not be found. 31 Syrians are still being looked for. In the 12
years, 12 Syrians, 1 Turk and 1 Egyptian died on the way, as their boat
overturned.
Country of origin Number
Syria 1,705
Iraq 376
Turkey 94
Georgia 57
Palestine 27
Iran 16
Afganistan 15
Uzbekistan 13
Pakistan 11
Bangladesh 11
Lebanon 8
Egypt 8
Jordan 2
Senegal 2
Litvania 1
Tadjikistan 1
Mongolia 1
Unidentified nationality/
could not be found 178
Total: 2,526
Turkish Cypriot advocate Öncel Polili, in his Report entitled “Refugee Rights in North Cyprus” for the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights Foundation (Nicosia, May 2012), makes the following observations: “Some of the people who applied for refugee status and are residing in North Cyprus came to North Cyprus with the help of human smugglers and through so-called ‘irregular’ ways. Moreover, there are some university students -mostly Palestinian- who applied for asylum also. Similarly, there are those who entered North Cyprus through official ways and applied to UNCHR for asylum. (...)
Currently,
there is no legislation is in effect to regulate asylum applications in the
TRNC. Due to the fact that the TRNC is a de facto state, UNCHR have not had any
direct relation with TRNC. However, until 2008 through the agency of
Humanitarian Aid Mission, and since March 2009 through the agency of Turkish
Cypriot Human Rights Foundation (TCHRF) and Refugee Rights Association (RRA),
asylum applications are being delivered to and examined by the Cyprus branch of
UNHCR.TCHRF and RRA also work to secure other rights of refugees and asylum
seekers. The absence of other organizations, whose focus is to support refugees
and asylum seekers, is noticeable.
Most of the asylum applications made to the UNCHR are by Iraqi of Palestinian origin refugees. Also, there are asylum applications from nationals of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Iran, Palestine and Turkmenistan. Many other Iraqis of Palestinian origin made their asylum application to UNHCR, when they were in the north Cyprus and later on they crossed to the south. The recent developments in Syria led to increase applications made by Syrians. Those, who come to the north Cyprus, get the chance to reach UNHCR, make an asylum application and obtain admission, are resettled in a third country that accepts refugees. Those, who do not get admission, can be deported to their country of origin.” (p.88-89)
Despite
the lack of any legal regulations, refugees from Iraq and Palestine were allowed
to reside in the TRNC until 2009. According to the records of the RRA, though
the exact numbers are unknown, authorities took deportation decisions against
more than 30 asylum seekers. In 2010, 3 asylum applicants were deported and in
2011 the decision for the deportation of 25 people was taken and executed.
These numbers are only those known by the RRA and actual numbers are estimated
by the RRA to be significantly higher. Moreover, the RRA officials were also
informed that many asylum seekers were not admitted at the ports. As mentioned
above, the refugees are being deported from the TRNC in contradiction to the
1951 Refugee Convention for either entering the country in so-called
‘irregular’ ways and/or because they are sentenced to prison.” (p.91)
Most
of the refugees, who enter North Cyprus through so-called irregular or regular
ways, come to North Cyprus with the aim of crossing to the Republic of Cyprus,
which has a more structured refugee policy.
As stated in 2007 Annual Green Line Report, according to the data submitted by the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus, the number of illegal immigrants detained after crossing the Green Line increased from 725 in 2002 to 3,796 in 2003 and 5,287 in 2004 before decreasing again to a level of 5,191 in 2005 and 3,778 in 2006. In the reporting period, 2,844 illegal immigrants (more than 97 % of all illegal immigrants detained) are reported by the Cypriot Police to have entered the government controlled areas across the Green Line).
According to the 2008 EU Annual Green Line Report, the number of third country nationals crossing the Line illegally remains an area of serious concern. In the reporting period, according to the data submitted by the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus, the total number of detected (or apprehended) illegal immigrants more than doubled (increase from 2,919 to 5,844), reaching the highest level ever.
According
to the EU Green Line Report, which covered the years 2008 and 2010, partially
CYPOL figures from May 2009 to April 2010 indicate a 54% decrease in illegal
migration across the Line from the northern part of Cyprus to the
government-controlled areas. 2,546 illegal migrants were apprehended within the
government-controlled areas (excluding those refused crossing at Green Line
crossing points) down from 5,560 illegal immigrants in the previous period.
In order to prevent “illegal” crossings to the Republic of Cyprus controlled areas, Turkish Cypriot authorities took measures such as not allowing the entry of many asylum seekers through legitimate ports and took the deportation decision against those, who entered “illegally”. Despite the requests of the RRA from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to provide information on how many people have been
deported for the reason above, no information was provided. (p.92)
The unique political structure of the TRNC generated a distinctive asylum process for refugees. Often refugees come to TRNC without any documents or they enter through irregular ways. Moreover, sometimes people, who come to study at the universities in the TRNC, also seek asylum. Asylum applications are made to the UNHCR through civil society organizations. UNCHR determines the applications and those, who qualify as refugees, are resettled in a third country. Authorities from the TRNC do not get involved in the process nor do support the refugees almost in any way. The authorities mostly take the decision to deport refugees.
In regard to the protection of refugees on legal grounds, the Article 33 of the 1951 Refugee Convention guards the principle of non-refoulement alongside the CAT, ECHR and ICCPR. Though these treaties are part of the TRNC domestic law, specific laws to protect refugees have not yet been legislated. Moreover, neither have the 1967 Protocol been adopted, which allows the removal of the time and place limitation of the 1951 Refugee Convention. Penalising the“illegal entry” of the refugees is the most crucial problem faced by refugees. These penalties both take away refugees’ liberty and also often eventuate with their deportation. To that end it is a crucial necessity to re-regulate the exercise of penalizing refugees in the instance of “illegal entry” within the context of contemporary human rights law. The lack of any legislation regarding refugees and the attempts to regulate this matter solely by referring to the international treaties cause many complications in handling issues about refugees. International human rights treaties are general regulations and the states are required to adopt their own laws in order to comply with these treaties in the best condition. To that end, the legal status of the refugees residing in the north Cyprus is not yet clear as well as how they would benefit from their other rights. Those, who get the chance of not being deported as a result of their application to the court, are nonetheless left in the shadow in terms of how to benefit from economic and social rights such as health, housing, work or civil rights like marriage and decisions are dependent upon the individual decision of the authorities of the time. (p.143)
Turkish Cypriot advocate Ceren Göynüklü writes the following in her Report about the“Human Rights of Migrant Workers in North Cyprus”, prepared again for the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights Foundation (Nicosia, May 2012): “Although authorities do not give information on the official number of registered migrant workers in the northern part of Cyprus as of 2011, there is an approximate figure. The numerical data in question puts forth the existence of an informal market based on foreign workforce. The primary reason of the supply for foreign workforce is the emergence of a public deficit for unskilled workers and intermediate staff. In specific sectors and lines of business, the supply of domestic workforce is far from being adequate. These include sectors and lines of business like construction, industry, agriculture, services, household services, tailor, cleaner, dealer, salesclerk and gardener. As those occupations are not preferred by the society, the workforce deficit is met with migrant workers. However, the most important reasons of the demand for employing migrant workers is the demand for cheap workforce and exploitation purposes like being able to employ workers for a long time and as dependent on the employer”. (Göynüklü, p.81)
With
the law adopted in 2006, issues like social security and reserve fund premium
deposits, preliminary permit and work permit have been introduced as
requirements for employing foreign workers, and labour became costly for the
employers who in turns opted for cheaper manpower. At those times, workers have
begun to be brought from third countries. Apart from the demand for cheap
manpower, one of the main reasons of employing workers from third countries is
that these people are more vulnerable to exploitation because of their
conditions in their own countries and their being able to be put to work in
poorer conditions for longer periods. When the business owners making demands
from third countries are analyzed, it is seen that their firms are generally
uninstitutionalized. Said third countries include Pakistan, Turkmenistan,
Philippines, China, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan and
African countries. Recently, an increase in the number of workers from
Turkmenistan is also being observed.
Between the years 2005-2006, workers have begun to be brought from Pakistan. Pakistani workers working for 50 dollars in their own countries were accepting to work for 300 dollars in the northern part of Cyprus. Also, they had no demands for social security. Pakistani workers are employed in the construction sector, agriculture, animal-breeding and restaurants. (Yet, there is a Pakistani population in the northern part of Cyprus coming from the past.) They are especially demanded in the construction sector and in the industry as their wages are lower in comparison to the workers from Turkey.
The
unskilled worker deficit mentioned above is compensated for largely by workers
from Turkey. Particularly before the legal amendments on employing foreign
workers in 2006, workers from Turkey have been employed for long periods.
The
Breakdown of Work Permit Procedures for Foreign Workers (1999-31.10.2009)
Total Initial Extension Work permit cancellations Final total (net)
36,230
18,830 (%56) 15,690 (%43) 15,145 21,115
Work
Permit Applications by Workers from Turkey (1999–2005) (*)
Year New Renewal Total
1999
4,156 1,672 5,828
2000
4,611 1,502 6,113
2001
3,924 1,387 5,311
2002
3,521 2,307 5,828
2003
4,124 2,374 6,498
2004
9,656 2,773 12,429
2005
38,464 7,546 46,010
(*)
Mehmet, Özay, Mehmet Tahiroğlu, Fatma Güven Lisaniler & Salih
Katırcıoğlu,“Labor Mobility and Labor Market Convergence in Cyprus”, Turkish
Studies, 8(1): 43-69, March 2007.
Distribution
of Workers from Turkey by Region in 2005
City New Renewal Total
Lefkoşa
(Nicosia) 18,905 4,344 23,249
Girne (Kyrenia) 12,643 2,309 14,952
Mağusa (Famagusta) 5,780 748 6,528
Güzelyurt (Morphou) 1,136 145 1,281
____________________________________________________________
Total
38,464 7,546 46,010
The biggest number of undocumented workers is found in the construction sector due also to the increase of constructions in rural areas. The construction sector is followed by restaurants, places where wholesaling and retailing takes place, barbers, hairdressers, cafes and bars.” (p.85-86)
Advocate Ceren Göynüklü writes as her “Conclusion” the following: “In the light of the aforementioned, it is seen that there are significant indicators of forced labour and very grave violations of human rights of migrant workers in the North of Cyprus. Migrant workers migrate to the northern part of Cyprus in the hope of employment and a better life due to reasons like poverty and unemployment in their own countries. The demand to employ migrant workers however is based on the demand for cheap and dependent labour.
Workers brought from different countries of origin are put to work under very poor conditions in sectors like construction, industry, agriculture, and services. Migrant workers are subjected to debt bondage, their passports are seized and they are threatened by different means. Workers who are subjected to forced labour practices are faced with human right violations in many aspects.
Employers fail to fulfil their legal obligations concerning accommodation, payment of fees, wages, working hours and leave. Migrant workers put to work with very low wages are forced to live and work under unhealthy and degrading conditions. They may occasionally be put to work for very long hours and/or without a work permit. Migrant workers who are employed in works lacking occupational safety especially in the construction or industry sector where there is a high degree of danger are faced with the risk of occupational accidents. There are migrant workers who lost their lives or who were seriously injured in the occupational accidents that took place.
Although there is a similarity in general, the form and size of victimization of migrant workers might vary between countries of origin and the sectors those workers are employed. Workers brought from foreign countries except Turkey form the more risky groups in terms of forced labour due to factors like the language problem, poorer living and economic conditions in the countries of origin and exploitation of those conditions by the employers and dependence to the employer which is more than that of workers from Turkey.
When the government’s approaches to migrant workers and their protection are considered, it is clearly seen that the government policies fall short of protecting the migrant workers. The deficiencies within the laws and failing to implement existing laws are significant barriers in protecting the migrant workers and eliminating existing violations. In addition to that, lack of efficient mechanisms of recourse for migrant workers is also one of the main problems. Inspections made to implement the laws merely focus on “illegal” workers and other rights and human rights of migrant workers are ignored. Two basic factors concerning this issue are unqualified and unquantified personnel and lack of a political will for the protection of migrant workers.
The
problem of “illegal” workers is a phenomenon recognized and expressed by many
circles in the North of Cyprus. However, the approach to this problem is not
centred on human rights. These undocumented workers who are subjected to 100
more grave violations in comparison to other migrant workers are regarded as an
economic and social problem, yet the human right violations they are subjected
to are completely ignored.
Besides their victimization, migrant workers are subjected to ethnic and class discrimination both in social life and workplaces. Most of the time, ethnic and class discrimination approaches and exploitation are sought to be legitimized by employers. In addition, the ethnic and class discrimination prevailing in the society hinders the emergence of a social campaign against the problem.
In
that regard, the government is required to take the necessary legal and
administrative steps and take the necessary measures with respect to the
protection of migrant workers and the existing violations. The trade unions,
trade bodies and the civil society that have not assumed an efficient role in
relation to the problem until now are faced with a significant task at this
point.
Lastly, a very important issue should be added. There are also findings on human trafficking for the purpose of forced labour in the North of Cyprus. Migrant workers are generally under risk in that respect and many of them are victims of human trafficking.” (p.99-100)
(This paper was presented at the
Joint Meeting of the Political Committees of the European Movement
International (EMI) Members Council, on the theme of EU illegal immigration,
with a focus on Syria, held at the Hilton Park Hotel, in Nicosia-Cyprus, on 30th
November 2012.)
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