ISTANBUL - Journalist Ercüment Akdeniz drew attention that people are being displaced and stated that immigrants should be embraced against increasing racism.

 

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly declared June 20, 2001 "World Refugee Day" in order to raise awareness and develop empathy for people who had to flee their countries due to war, conflict and persecution. In the past 23 years, due to the war policies of the sovereign powers over the world, people have been forced to leave their lands and become refugees. According to the data included in the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) titled "Global Educations in Forced Displacement 2022", the number of forcibly displaced people rose to 108.4 million. According to the “2022 World Migration Report” of the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM); There are 281 million immigrants worldwide.

 

Journalist and writer Ercüment Akdeniz, who has written countless articles and published many books by focusing on the migrations caused by the wars, made evaluations about the policies developed by Turkey and the world regarding refugees, the problems and living conditions of refugees on his way to June 20 World Refugee Day.

 

THE EFFECTS OF WARS ON MIGRATION

 

Expressing that the central capitalist states have hardened their attitudes towards refugees and immigrants, Akdeniz said: "The reason for this is increasing unemployment, poverty and drought. There were migrations as a result of mass diseases during the coronavirus epidemic. The increase in regional wars had a great impact on migration. There is a very intense migration flow from Africa to the Central Mediterranean and Europe due to the decrease in water resources and their seizure by the capitalist system. This situation has increased despite the security, harsh, inhuman and violent measures being taken in the world."

 

THE MIGRATION POLICY OF TÜRKİYE

 

Underlining that Turkey's migration plan is entirely dependent on the European Union (EU), Akdeniz said: "There is a 'Great Wall' that protects the European mainland. They created it both at sea and on land to block the passage of immigrants. They are investing an incredible amount of money for this. Apart from the Great Wall of Europe, they built a wall around Turkey to prevent the passage of the Middle East and Africa. The EU gave Turkey the task of being a migrant watchdog.  The EU gives money by bargaining for the euro, and in return says, 'Hold the immigrants, let Turkey be a refugee warehouse'. AKP is totally dependent on this plan. Turkey has almost become a Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka of the EU with this immigration regime and central capitalist countries because the labor of children and women is very cheap there. There is no need for these companies to go there anymore. Türkiye has already become a Bangladesh; however, the Erdoğan administration also has the following goal, different from the EU; It is trying to make immigration management politically superior. It wants to change the demographic structure in some parts of Turkey. It is trying to create a population area that can change Turkey's secular and democratic foundations. It tries to use immigration as a subject society, as an ideological argument. It is trying to use it as a justification for intervention in Syria. The recent increase in bargaining also shows this. When we look at all this, the AKP government is engaged in economic, commercial and refugee negotiations with the EU on the one hand, and trying to use immigrants as a political trump card to expand its dominance in the Middle East, on the other hand."

 

THE BACKGROUND OF RACISM

 

Emphasizing that the migration problem should be discussed in a solution-oriented manner, Akdeniz said: "The 'Readmission Agreement' should be abolished. The perception of 'refugees and immigrants, who are responsible for everything', which is frequently discussed in the public, encourages racism, Akdeniz warned that this is very wrong and may have dangerous consequences in the future."

 

Stating that June 20, World Refugee Day is a day of struggle, not a day of celebration, Akdeniz said: “It is a day of struggle for all people with their natives and immigrants. When you say 'We are fighting against capitalism and exploitation', you cannot say 'We are fighting against immigrants'. This won't happen because it is capitalism itself that creates immigration. We need to develop ways to fight against capitalism together, by taking the immigrants with us. The parties that are in favor of labor, democracy and freedom and non-governmental organizations should establish a platform of struggle that defends the fundamental rights of immigrants."

 

MA / Rukiye Adıgüzel