Migrant Smuggling Data and Research

6
TURKEY
Ahmet İçduygu and Sebnem Koser Akcapar
Introduction
There is a long history of migrant smuggling in Turkey and its immediate
neighbourhood, which started with the irregular flows of migrants from
Afghanistan by the end of the 1970s following a series of events, namely the
following: (a) the Soviet invasion, civil wars, Taliban regime; (b) in the early
1980s from the Islamic Republic of Iran after the regime change and persecution
based on religion and political opinion; (c) end-1980s from Iraq due to Saddam’s
attacks on Kurds followed by American occupation in 2003 and the civil war;
and (d) more recently from the Syrian Arab Republic fleeing from civil war that
erupted in 2011. Apart from these flows, Turkey has transformed into a transit
migration hub for migrants hailing from Africa and South Asia thanks to the
dynamics of globalization and increasing mobility.
Undoubtedly, migrant smuggling in Turkey is closely associated with
irregular migration issues. As seen in other parts of the world, one reason for this
connotation is that mixed flows of migrants are involved in migrant smuggling
in the region. These migrants are as follows: (a) transit migrants who enter
the country usually from South Asia, Africa and Middle East with the intention
of using Turkey as a springboard to migrate to another country in the West,
mostly in Europe; (b) irregular economic migrants who come to Turkey with the
objective of living and working without valid documents; and (c) asylum seekers
who are stranded in the country longer than they expected and rejected cases
who are not accepted as refugees.
Migrant Smuggling Data and Research:
A global review of the emerging evidence base
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