More Afghans flee their country and hope to come to Turkey, Ankara worries

With the acceleration of the withdrawal of American troops and the fighting with the Taliban, more and more Afghans are trying to flee their country.

REUTERS / Omar Sobhani

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

With the acceleration of the withdrawal of American troops and the fighting with the Taliban, more and more Afghans are trying to flee their country.

Turkey is not a neighboring country of Afghanistan, but it is a stopover via Iran, and more and more often, the destination of these Afghan exiles.

Authorities in Ankara are worried about a new influx at the borders.

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With our correspondent in Istanbul,

Anne Andlauer

Turkey, which hosts more refugees than any other country in the world since the Syrian crisis, is attentive to the slightest migratory movement at its eastern and south-eastern borders.

However, over the past three years, those who most often try to enter Turkish territory are no longer Syrians, but Afghans.

Since the beginning of 2018, the Ankara authorities claim to have arrested more than 378,000 Afghans in an irregular situation, or 42% of the arrests recorded over the same period, all nationalities combined.

With the withdrawal of American troops, Turkey is therefore worried about a massive influx of people fleeing Afghanistan.

► To read also: 

Afghanistan: the fear of a civil war is growing

Many dream of Europe, but most find themselves stranded in Turkey, surviving odd jobs that are very poorly paid and underground, failing to register with the Turkish authorities.

They live in fear of being arrested, taken to a detention center, then deported to their increasingly dangerous country.

According to the Turkish press, this is what happened again on July 9 to 32 Afghans arrested in Ankara.

► To read also: "A matter of weeks": in Afghanistan, the victory of the Taliban is imminent

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  • Turkey

  • Afghanistan

  • International Migration