376 Foreigners deported from the TRNC in the last two months as crime rate increases

About 376 foreigners were deported from the TRNC in the last two months for issues raging from illegal residency to involvement in crime and there are more to come. 

Turkish Cypriot daily, Yeniduzen in an article on Thursday stated that "the increase in the involvement of 'foreign nationals' in judicial cases has turned the eyes of the authorities to unregistered or fake registered persons in the country. 

Speaking to YENİDÜZEN, educational circles drew attention to the importance of university-police cooperation and control of entry into the country, while student representatives pointed to the economic distress and complained of 'generalization'...

In the records reflected in the immigration data of the Ministry of Interior, 376 people who 'do not have legal status in the country or were found to be involved in crime' and were deported from the country in the last two months.  

Speaking to YENİDÜZEN, Minister of Interior Ziya Öztürkler informed that “these dismissals will increase”.

According to the data of the Ministry of Education, there are around 90,000 “active students” in the country, the data on the “passive students” who enrolled in universities over the years but were not checked whether they continue their education or not, could not be determined.

Despite coming to the country as a "student", the increase in individuals who turn to different fields.

Answering the questions of YENİDÜZEN regarding the number of registered university students in the country and the determination of unregistered students, Minister Çavuşoğlu said; “I do not think that the police have a special effort to carry out inspections.”

University representatives, on the other hand, stated that meticulous research and studies should be carried out on whether people are students or not, especially when entering the country.

Noting that there are high quality and very successful students in the country, educational institutions emphasized that the subject is very sensitive and said, "We should look at those who come with the intention of learning".

Ekrem Soyşen, Deputy Chairman of the Student Dormitories Union, emphasized the importance of the immigration follow-up of the students and said, “Follow-up and inspection should be done with a more regular system”.

Minister of Interior Minister Ziya Öztürkler, stated that they deported more than 150 people who were found to be illegally present in the country or involved in various criminal crimes by the Immigration Department. Most were deported from the Prison for health reasons.

Öztürkler stated that they have made the whole legal process operational for both students and foreign nationals who were in an irregular situation or involved in a criminal case in any way during the two-month period she was on duty.

“In two months, we expelled a total of 376 foreign nationals from the country due to an irregular situation or involvement in any incident. We will increase this number day by day in coordination with other ministries and units.

We are not against anyone in our country who has a legal status and does not disturb the peace of the society with the purpose of being in the country. But we will do what is necessary for those other than that. We will do all this within the limits of respect for human rights and within the legal framework. I have assumed the authority and responsibility for all of these.” 

Öztürkler reminded that during the period of the Higher Education Department Directorate, applications were made regarding the registration of students and the renewal of these registrations every year, together with the Higher Education registration system and immigration registration system in the country, and explained that there are new initiatives to carry this system further.

Saying that today, the immigration part of this study is under her responsibility, Öztürkler said, “We are investigating how many of those who entered the island are registered and how many of those who are here are registered. We have serious studies to follow the legal process of people who are not only students but also in different fields." 

Minister of National Education and Culture Nazım Çavuşoğlu stated that there are around 90,000 active university students in the country. He stated that there are also 'passive students' who have been registered over the years but have not been checked whether they continue to be a student or not.

Regarding the unregistered university students in the country and their detection, he commented, "I don't think the police have a special effort to carry out inspections."

Answering the questions of YENİDÜZEN regarding the number of registered university students in the country and the determination of unregistered students, Minister Çavuşoğlu said, “We are here for those who want to come to this country as students. But those who abused coming as a student and took other paths should be applied in line with the legal intervention within the framework of TRNC laws. “There is a number of students who have been enrolled over the years and whose studentship has not been checked. What matters is the number of active students. The number of passive students is not with me at the moment," he said.

Pointing out that there may be students who come to the country as students and then drop out of school by not registering and fall into the position of illegal labor force, Çavuşoğlu noted that he can initiate the legal process and apply the deportation process regarding the people identified during the police inspections.

Çavuşoğlu said, “I do not think that the police have made a special effort to carry out inspections, I know that they are carrying out the legal process regarding the detections they come across in their normal, routine inspections.” made his comment.  

“The police can access the Higher Education registration lists at any time, take the student lists and conduct inspections accordingly,” he said.

“For us, our country is a student island, we stand by and support all students who come for education. Even if there are those who will abuse, whatever the legal procedure is, the Police have the authority to deport the people they detect during the inspections.

Read full article on Yeniduzen