Operation KALKAN-30 in Türkiye targets irregular migration VIDEO

In Türkiye, Operation Kalkan-30 has been conducted to identify illegal immigrants and tackle migrant smuggling organisers.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya provided an update on the operation in a statement shared on social media platform X, Caliber.Az reports.

Ülke genelinde düzenlenen “KALKAN-30” operasyonlarında 11’i yabancı uyruklu olmak üzere toplam:
—51 göçmen kaçakçılığı organizatörü ve
—1.644 düzensiz göçmen yakalandı❗️

Ülkemizin huzur ve güvenliği için düzensiz göç ve göçmen kaçakçılığıyla mücadelemizi azim ve karalılıkla… pic.twitter.com/HxGmDeT4Ck

— Ali Yerlikaya (@AliYerlikaya) November 18, 2024

"During an operation carried out nationwide, 51 people involved in migrant smuggling were arrested, along with 1,644 illegal immigrants, 11 of whom were foreign nationals. The process of repatriating the identified illegal immigrants has begun," the statement reads.

Notaby, on December 13, 2000, Türkiye signed the Agreement on Combating Cross-Border Organized Crime in Palermo, along with two protocols addressing the Smuggling of Migrants and Human Trafficking. These agreements are key to Türkiye’s commitment to combat transnational crimes.

Irregular migration has had significant social and economic implications, particularly through illicit work. To address this, Türkiye enacted the Law on Work Permits for Foreigners (No 4817) on 6 September 2003, aiming to regulate foreign employment and curb underpaid, illegal work. Additionally, the crime of migrant smuggling is defined in Article 79 of the Turkish Penal Code (No 5237), with penalties applied even for attempted offences. The Law No 6008 of 20 July 2010 further reinforced these measures.

In 2014, the Law on Foreigners and International Protection (No 6458) established a comprehensive migration policy and created the Directorate General of Migration Management under the Ministry of Interior. The Directorate's mandate includes monitoring irregular migration trends and implementing necessary responses to manage migration effectively.

By Aghakazim Guliyev