Is the Turkish/Greek Border a Pandemic Free Zone?
REFUGEES AND THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
by Bahar Filiz | Ozyegin University
In recent months, the developments of the COVID-19 pandemic have set the media agenda in Turkish newspapers. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, immigrants had begun moving toward Greek borders to reach Europe. This movement began when the Turkish government decided to remove obstacles along the Greek border on February 29, 2020. The Minister of Internal Affairs, Suleyman Soylu, gave numerical information about the number of refugees who crossed borders: “On the first day 9,062, on the second day 43,068, on the third day 65,127, on the fourth day 10,030, on the fifth day, 5,722 people passed.”[1] It has been widely reported that the Armed Forces of Greece interfered with refugees’ entry using tear gas, pepper spray, and sometimes even machine guns.[2] United Cities and Local Governments of the Middle East and West Asia Section (UCLG-MEWA) sent a recommendation letter to the United Nations asking them to respond to the violent actions toward refugees on the Greek border, and the United Nations appealed to Greece to implement the right of sanctuary, which is a part of international law and cannot be suspended.[3] Mevlut Çavuşoğlu, Turkey’s Foreign Affairs Minister, mentioned: “Greece, a European Union member, suspends international law and EU law. It fires on the land and in the sea towards refugees who have taken refuge in its borders and moves inhumanely; sinking boats and attacking with tear gas. They have killed 3 people and injured others.” [4] As these accounts make clear, even before the COVID-19 outbreak, refugees already were pushed into undesirable conditions.
When COVID-19 began arriving in Turkey, many different groups, including NGOs, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency of the Turkish government, and the Red Crescent, began providing food and clothing support to the refugees who were at the buffer zone between the Turkish-Greek (Pazarkule-Kastanies) border. Additionally, the Adrianople Municipality performed regular disinfecting actions to prevent the presence of epidemic circumstances.[5] According to Hürriyet news, 7,096 refugees applied to the hospitals for various reasons in a twenty-five-day period. Hospitals provided measles and polio vaccines to 1,581 to immigrant children, and the tetanus vaccine was given to 44 pregnant immigrant women. As we can guess, the health circumstances of refugees were not good. They were already prone to getting COVID-19 and more likely to have a high death rate if they did get it. Refugees who are at the Turkish/Greek border face the coronavirus in the most undesirable conditions. For this reason, immediate actions to prevent the presence of COVID-19 contamination at the borders were needed.
Refugees and migrants wearing masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, wait to get on a bus after their arrival at the port of Piraeus, near Athens on May 4, 2020. - Copyright AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris
The virus was one of the riskiest circumstances in the Turkish-Greek border situation due to its high speed of propagation. Therefore, Minister Soylu took the rapid decision to empty the Pazarkule Border Crossing. Nearly 5,800 refugees were transported to repatriation centers in nine provinces. However, Soylu highlighted that the Turkish government does not say “no” to refugees who want to leave the country after the removal of COVID-19 contamination risks.[6] After the online G-20 meeting due to COVID-19 in March, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan emphasized that Syrian refugees can be seen as the most disadvantageous group. Therefore, humanitarian aid should be provided to communities and regions, which are affected by war.[7] Unfortunately, there is little information about the extent of humanitarian aid or how the aid is now being transmitted to refugees. Emphasizing the refugees’ disadvantageous situation can be seen as useful for directing attention to their circumstances. On the other hand, paying attention to this group of individuals does not mean that humanitarian aid will be provided, unfortunately.
REFERENCES:
[1] Bakan Soylu CNN TÜRK’te! Canlı yayında önemli açıklamalar... (2020, 03 05). Retrieved from Milliyet: https://www.milliyet.com.tr/siyaset/bakan-soylu-cnn-turkte-canli-yayinda-onemli-aciklamalar-6158600
[2] Stevis-Gridneff, Matina. (2020). Vigilantes in Greece Say ‘No More’ to Migrants. New York Times. Available at:< https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/07/world/europe/greece-turkey-migrants.html.> (accessed March 9, 2020).
[3] Bakan Soylu CNN TÜRK’te! Canlı yayında önemli açıklamalar... (2020, 03 05). Retrieved from Milliyet: https://www.milliyet.com.tr/siyaset/bakan-soylu-cnn-turkte-canli-yayinda-onemli-aciklamalar-6158600
[4] Bakan Soylu CNN TÜRK’te! Canlı yayında önemli açıklamalar... (2020, 03 05). Retrieved from Milliyet: https://www.milliyet.com.tr/siyaset/bakan-soylu-cnn-turkte-canli-yayinda-onemli-aciklamalar-6158600
[5] Sınırdaki mültecilerle ilgili son durum. (2020, 03 23). Retrieved from Habertürk: https://www.haberturk.com/sinirdaki-multecilerle-ilgili-son-durum-2622157
[6] İçişleri Bakanı Soylu: Otobüs seyahatlerine kısıtlama getiriyoruz! (2020, 03 27). Retrieved from Habertürk: https://www.haberturk.com/son-dakika-haberler-icisleri-bakani-suleyman-soylu-hayat-yuzde-80-durdu-2627041.
[7] Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan G20'ye video konferans yöntemiyle katıldı! (2020, 03 16). Retrieved from Milliyet.com.tr: https://www.milliyet.com.tr/siyaset/cumhurbaskani-erdogan-g20ye-video-konferans-yontemiyle-katildi-6174710.