Turkey/Iran: Information on the role of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Turkey regarding Iranian asylum claims and whether Iranian asylum claimants are routinely returned to Iran by the Turkish authorities

For information on the above-mentioned subject, please see the attached letter, sent to the DIRB by facsimile from the office of the UNHCR's Branch Office for Canada on 23 July 1997.

The following information on Iranian refugee claimants in Turkey comes from several issues of the annual publication World Refugee Survey (WRS). The year of publication is indicated in parentheses, followed by the relevant page numbers.

1996: Refugees recognized by the UNHCR:    925

Refugees not recognized by the UNHCR:       493

Recognized refugees refouled to Iran:           20

(1997, 218-19)

1995:Refugees recognized by the UNHCR:     524

Refugees not recognized by the UNHCR:       264

Recognized refugees refouled to Iran:           42

In addition, "at least 20" Iranian refugees were expelled in 1995 who had not yet completed the refugee determination process with the UNHCR (1996, 174).

1994:Refugees recognized by Turkey:              127

Refugees not recognized by Turkey:                146

(1995, 146)

1993:Refugees recognized by the UNHCR:     865

Refugees not recognized by the UNHCR:       545

(1994, 152)

1992:Refugees recognized by the UNHCR:     788

Refugees not recognized by the UNHCR:       652

(1993, 138)

1991:Refugees recognized by the UNHCR:     1484

Refugees not recognized by the UNHCR:       486

(1992, 83)

According to WRS 1989 in Review, there had been "hundreds of cases of refoulement" of Iranian asylum seekers from Turkey in recent years, and an Amnesty International report is quoted to the effect that seven Iranians, including four who had been recognized by the UNHCR, had been executed in Iran after having been refouled from Turkey in November 1988 (1990, 67). WRS 1988 in Review reported that an Iranian doctor who had been recognized by the UNHCR was refouled to Iran even though he had been offered resettlement in Canada (1989, 59). WRS 1986 in Review reported that Amnesty International stated that there had been 94 cases of refoulement of Iranians from Turkey in 1984 and 1985 (1987, 71).

According to a 10 January 1996 dispatch from Deutsche Presse-Agentur, the Turkish government had agreed with the UNHCR that asylum-seekers from outside Europe would be allowed to stay in Turkey while their claims were being processed, but if their claims were accepted by the UNHCR, they would be resettled in third countries.

In a 23 August 1995 dispatch from Inter Press Service, a UNHCR official is quoted as saying that "[o]f one million Iranian emigrants to Turkey, 60 percent have been accepted as political refugees by the UNHCR." According to the same dispatch, Algan Hacaloglu, the Turkish minister of state responsible for human rights affairs, claimed that there were about 600,000 registered Iranian refugees in Turkey. Mr. Hacaloglu is quoted as saying that Iranian refugees "will not be deported unless Teheran guarantees their safety" (ibid.). (for more details, please see the article, attached below.)

On 15 February 1996, Abe Ghaffari, executive director of Iranian Christians International Inc. (ICI), testified to the U.S. House Committee on International Relations and claimed that in July 1994 "the UNHCR [in Turkey] turned over all of its refugee processing and decision making authority to the Turkish government." This has meant that, as of July 1994, all Iranian Christian asylum claimants in Turkey have had to submit to interviews with the Turkish security police, according to Mr. Ghaffari (ibid.).

According to a 13 August 1994 broadcast by the Iranian opposition radio station "Voice of Iranian Kordestan," the UNHCR in Turkey was refusing to register the names of Iranian refugee claimants unless the claimants were approved by the Turkish police. The broadcast claimed that the Turkish police were working closely with the Iranian police to secure the return of Iranian refugee claimants to Iran (ibid.). (For more details, please see the text, attached below.)

According to the UNHCR's Report for 1994-1995 and Proposed Programmes and Budget for 1996, in 1994 "the Turkish Government started interviewing asylum-seekers and deciding who satisfied refugee criteria." (Please see the text of the report, attached below. The report is also accessible through the "UNHCR" icon in REFWORLD, through SHARENet.)

For more information on the UNHCR and Iranian refugee claimants in Turkey, please see the attached articles below.

 For information on the forcible return to Iran of Iranian asylum claimants in Turkey by the Turkish authorities, please see the following, all in the REFWORLD database, accessible through SHARENet: the US Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1996, section 2.d of the article on Turkey; Amnesty International Report 1996: "Refugees ( Refugee Protection Under Threat"; Human Rights Watch World Report 1996: "Human Rights Watch/Middle East Overview: Iran: Human Rights Developments"; and Amnesty International Report 1995: "Protecting Refugees."

 The following sources, which are available in Regional Documentation Centres, also contain information on the forcible return to Iran of Iranian asylum claimants in Turkey by the Turkish authorities: the article on Turkey in Amnesty International Report 1997, the article on Iran in Human Rights Watch World Report 1997, and the 1994 Amnesty International publication Turkey: Selective Protection: Discriminatory Treatment of Non-European Refugees and Asylum-Seekers.

     For more information on refugee claimants in Turkey and the role of the UNHCR, please see the annual periodical World Refugee Survey, available at Regional Documentation Centres.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Deutsche Presse-Agentur. 10 January 1996. BC Cycle. "Turkey Urged Not to Repatriate Iranian Asylum-Seekers." (NEXIS)

FDCH Federal Department and Agency Documents. 15 February 1996. "Religious Freedom and Persecution of Christians Contact: Executive Director." (NEXIS)

Inter Press Service. 23 July 1995. Nadire Mater. "Turkey: Iranian Refugees Fight U.N. and Government to Stay." (NEXIS)

United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). 8 August 1995. UNHCR Activities Financed by Voluntary Funds: Report for 1994-1995 and Proposed Programmes and Budget for 1996. (A/AC.96/846/Part III/3 - CIS Countries and Turkey) (SHARENET)

Voice of Iranian Kordestan [in Persian]. 13 August 1994. "Four Opposition Groups Issue Statement on Refugees in Turkey." (BBC Summary 16 Aug./NEXIS)

World Refugee Survey 1997. 1997. Washington, DC: US Committee for Refugees.

_____ 1996. 1996. Washington, DC: US Committee for Refugees.

_____ 1995.  1995. Washington, DC: US Committee for Refugees.

_____ 1994. 1994. Washington, DC: US Committee for Refugees.

_____ 1993. 1993. Washington, DC: US Committee for Refugees.

_____ 1992. 1992. Washington, DC: US Committee for Refugees.

_____ 1989 in Review. 1990. Washington, DC: US Committee for Refugees.

_____ 1988 in Review. 1989. Washington, DC: US Committee for Refugees.

_____ 1986 in Review. 1987. Washington, DC: US Committee for Refugees.

Attachments

Deutsche Presse-Agentur. 26 April 1996. BC Cycle. "UNHCR Criticizes Turkey over Asylum Practice." (NEXIS)

Inter Press Service. 23 August 1995. Nadire Mater. "Turkey: Iranian Refugees Fight U.N. and Government to Stay." (NEXIS)

Reuters North American Wire. 8 November 1996. BC Cycle. "Turks Take Iranian Hunger Strikers to Hospital." (NEXIS)

Reuters North European Service. 27 May 1987. AM Cycle. "Ankara Diplomats Back Amnesty Claim on Iranians." (NEXIS)

_____. 7 August 1985. AM Cycle. Simon Haydon. "Scandinavian Sanctuary Under Threat, Iranian Refugees Fear." (NEXIS)

United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Branch office for Canada, Ottawa. 23 July 1997. Letter sent to the DIRB by facsimile.

_____. 8 August 1995. UNHCR Activities Financed by Voluntary Funds: Report for 1994-1995 and Proposed Programmes and Budget for 1996. (A/AC.96/846/Part III/3 - CIS Countries and Turkey, Par. 115-144)

Voice of Iranian Kordestan [in Persian]. 13 August 1994. "Four Opposition Groups Issue Statement on Refugees in Turkey." (BBC Summary 16 Aug./NEXIS)

Xinhua News Agency. 17 November 1995. "UNHCR Refuses to Review Case of Iranian Asylum-Seekers in Turkey." (NEXIS)