In the petition submitted by 52 refugees who went on a hunger strike at the repatriation center in Antalya, it was stated that the officials had tortured them in the „white room,“ patients were not taken care of, and they were punished with starvation. An Iranian refugee who has applied for asylum in Turkey and speaks Turkish fluently, Omid Eshagh, said, „Torture is not a crime that stayed in Turkey in the 90s; it still exists. They do not want to see this place.“ According to the news by Ceren Deniz from Duvar, the Migration Management Repatriation Center (GGM) in the Altınkale district of Antalya Döşemealtı, near the L-Type prison, became the target of serious accusations in the complaint jointly signed by 52 refugees. Lawyers and witnesses wrote petitions to the prosecutor’s office and prepared complaint applications for CIMER, but in a slow-moving fight for rights, the fate of nearly 400 refugees, including patients, elderly people, women, men, and children, is being pondered in this building where they are divided into corridors in the order of stations.
The individual who first reported the news from inside is an Iranian refugee who fled his country in 2015 due to his family’s political situation and applied for asylum in Turkey, speaking Turkish fluently. Omid Eshaghi happened. Eshaghi was picked up one morning about 50 days ago from his workplace in Antalya, where he had been living for the past years, and brought to this building. At the end of his 50-day stay at GGM, affiliated with the Ministry of Interior, he decided to ask a friend for help to make the environment where they lived quietly known. Although his request to get a number from his detained phone was rejected for days, he eventually managed to reach the number of a Turkish friend living in Antalya.
„You don’t want to see this place.“
In a brief call from a payphone to his friend Suser Basaran, he said, „Help us urgently.“ He explained that there were patients on the brink of death, that no child or adult had been transferred to the hospital, that they had resisted violence and inhumane conditions, and had gone on a hunger strike the day before. In this call, where he said no one else had anyone to reach out to for help and they urgently asked for help, he said, „Torture is not a crime that stayed in Turkey in the 90s; it still exists.“ „You don’t want to see this place,“ he said.
„Let people hear what we’re going through.“
Eshaghi explained that he was detained there together with hundreds of refugees waiting for their rescue from inhumane conditions and handed over the joint complaint petition they had written and signed to Ferhat Doruk to present it to the prosecutor’s office. He stated that as a foreigner speaking Turkish, he faced stronger harassment in seeking the rights of others and said, „Make everyone hear our voices, don’t let what happened here remain a secret, let people hear and know what we are going through. I’m not afraid.“
GGM officials: We have no authority to say anything
Deputy Director of the Provincial Migration Management under the Governor of Antalya, Derya Erdogan, stated that the hunger strike of the refugees who climbed over the window bars of Döşemealtı GGM, where he visited refugees and met with them, continues.
Although the officials did not accept the truthfulness of the accusations, when asked how long the nearly 400 refugees staying at GGM would be held there and what procedure would be initiated against them, they replied, „We do not have the authority to say anything on this matter.“
„They treat us like animals“
In the petition written in the handwriting of the Iranian Eshaghi and signed by 52 refugees, addressed to the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Turkey and forwarded to the Antalya Prosecutor’s Office through lawyer Ferhat Doruk, the following words were included:
„This article was written by foreigners staying at the Antalya Döşemealtı GGM Center. They do not give us our rights here. They treat us like animals. They do not transfer sick individuals to the hospital. The officials and security forces working here insult us and use violence. They try to deport people here, and they constantly scare us. We want you to come here and check the cameras. We respectfully ask you to help us and rescue us from this situation.“
T24