For increased arrivals Somaliland asylum seekers in the Greek islands in recent weeks has been mentioned by Minister of Immigration and Asylum, Notis Mitarakis, in an interview on Tuesday, 08/12, with foreign press correspondents, setting his sights on the Turkey but also specific NGO to facilitate these movements.
As he described, in recent weeks «arrivals of migrants from Somalia, a country that does not border Greece» were observed in Lesvos. Based on the data he provided, of the 214 arrivals in Lesvos since November 1, 142 are from Somalia. According to testimonies «and cross information», as the minister said, «NGOs pay the costs of transport and visa fees from the Somali capital, Mogadishu, to Turkey, with flights to Istanbul. They are then taken to the Turkish coast, where smugglers, again with the support of NGOs, help them to enter the European Union illegally.» He said there were about 2,000-2,500 African migrants, mainly Congolese and Somalis, currently concentrated on Turkey's western coast.
The Migration Minister also said that evidence shows that «Somali citizens have received health or student visas in Turkey and have been encouraged directly or indirectly to go to Turkey to study.» Unlike other nationalities, he added, «may enter Turkey without restrictions or border controls». According to him, a Turkish «liaison office» in Mogadishu «facilitates the completion of the whole process» at a price of 1,300-1,500 euros per person.
Other testimonies, he added, indicate that NGOs «are directly involved in the relocation of young Somalis who have testified that an NGO helped them to fly to Turkey at a cost of just €100», when the actual cost of the ticket is around €1,000.
Then, the minister described, when the Somalis arrive in Istanbul, «they are taken by trucks to specific areas of the city where they stay until they are transferred to the western Turkish coast. According to testimonies, 15-20 Somalis are placed together in small houses and then contact Turkish or Syrian smuggling networks and pay a new sum of 500-800 euros to be transferred to the Turkish coast and then to their destination in Greece.».
According to Mr Mitarakis, Lesvos is a desirable location «because of the the existence of NGOs that can help during the trip and their arrival and this is an attraction factor.» He added that during transit, they are instructed to take photographs and send them to certain NGOs and «these NGOs will then inform international organisations of the arrival».
Mitarakis concluded by saying that «we are sending a strong and clear message that this cannot and must not be allowed to happen. It is obvious that these people are not in danger in Turkey and therefore they should be given asylum there if necessary.» He also expressed concern that «Turkey seems to be facilitating the arrival of these migrants by willingly providing them with travel visas» and noted that «it is obvious that smuggling networks have suffered great economic damage because of the effective protection of our common borders.».
He reiterated that the ministry is completing the necessary changes to the asylum procedure, in order to characterize the request of those «coming from a safe environment» as unacceptable.
