Syrian refugees living across Turkey often head to big cities like Istanbul as they offer better employment opportunities. But in recent months, the authorities there have cracked down on unregistered Syrians, triggering fear and uncertainty among some refugees.
In July, the Turkish authorities in Istanbul ordered Syrian refugees who were not registered in Istanbul to leave the city by August 20 and return to the provinces where they registered. Now, that deadline has been extended until the end of October. However, there are reports of many Syrians being forcibly removed and sent back to Syria.
The Turkish coastguard has intercepted hundreds of migrants on the way to Greece in seven overnight operations on Saturday. 330 people were detained by security forces, state news agency Anadolu reported.
Zozan Yasar is a Kurdish journalist from Turkey. Denied access to education, Zozan taught herself to read and write and went to university to get a degree before working as a journalist. As a Kurd, she struggled to officially register her Kurdish name with the government in Turkey. After arrests and harassment, she was eventually forced to seek asylum in the UK.
Cyprus has submitted a request for EU member states to take over 5,000 migrants and refugees, as the number of people seeking asylum and protection is quickly rising in the island nation. It has also criticized Turkey in particular for not taking appropriate action.
Last year, the European Union planned to introduce reforms to its migration policies, aimed at gaining better control over the migration situation into Europe. What's left of all those plans one year on?
According to the Greek coast guard, its own patrol boats and EU border agency Frontex on Wednesday spotted nearly 120 people trying to reach Greece from Turkey on motorized rubber dinghies and wooden boats. Close to 20,000 migrants are currently staying in overcrowded camps on Greek islands in the eastern Aegean Sea.
Turkish authorities say they have intercepted about 15,000 migrants without valid documents in Istanbul in the past 20 days, among them 2,630 Syrian nationals.
Authorities say EU border agency Frontex has provided the Greek coast guard with a crewless airship to help combat irregular immigration and to augment search and rescue operations in the eastern Aegean Sea, where close to 20,000 migrants are staying in overcrowded camps on Greek islands. Separately, police found nearly 130 migrants in vehicles and detained two smugglers in two unrelated incidents, one in Greece and one in North Macedonia.
Some 144 undocumented immigrants have died so far this year in Turkey, according to the Directorate General of Migration Management at the interior ministry.
Turkish human rights groups have staged a protest on Saturday in Istanbul in solidarity with Syrian refugees. The demo followed a government announcement earlier last week saying that Syrians would be relocated out of the city if they are not officially registered.
After an increase in protests and intolerance from the local population, the Turkish authorities have begun to crack down on migrants and refugees in the country.