The Migrant and Refugee Solidarity Network, which was established in June and focuses on the problems of refugees, conducted a study on migrants whose citizenship was revoked. Lawyer Ali Diler, a member of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), one of the components of the network, said that the citizenship of many migrants has been revoked. Diler evaluated the work carried out by the network on the right to citizenship acquired by birth, later and exceptionally.

 

Diler stated that many refugees who became citizens in this way had their citizenship revoked for exercising their right to congregate and demonstrate.

 

CRITERIA FOR MIGRANTS TO ACQUIRE CITIZENSHIP

 

Referring to the legal basis of citizenship, Diler said that according to the law, there are several types of citizenship other than birth, such as citizenship acquired through marriage, adoption, or re-acquisition of citizenship, such as being conditional on residence. However, in Turkey, immigrants can acquire citizenship in an “exceptional” way, “This is defined as people who are deemed eligible for citizenship in the law, people who are deemed eligible for citizenship. There is no clear regulation on who these people are. There are regulations in special laws stating that they can obtain citizenship through property or investment. There are also methods of gaining citizenship in the form of sports, art, higher education as an instructor or student for exceptional citizenship.”

 

IN WHICH CASES IS CITIZENSHIP REVOKED?

 

Stating that according to the law, in order to revoke citizenship, people must provide “erroneous” information in their declarations, Diler emphasized that the competent authority in this regard is the Directorate of Migration Management within the Ministry of Interior. 

“The administration says, 'We made a mistake in your circumstances. Since you never had to acquire citizenship, we are canceling your citizenship,” he said.  

 

'THOSE WHO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHT TO CONGRGATE AND DEMONSTRATE ARE CANCELED'

 

Underlining that those who have been granted citizenship should live in security just like those who have been granted citizenship by birth, Diler said: “While these people are expected to use their fundamental rights unlimitedly, we see that many people have their citizenship revoked for exercising their fundamental rights. For example, people who take an active role in non-governmental organizations, who exercise their refugee rights, or who exercise their right to congregate and demonstration, who exercise their right to organize, can have their citizenship revoked or canceled when they are identified by the administration. We think this should not be the case. Because after a person obtains his/her citizenship, he/she should trust his/her civil registry.” 

 

Pointing to the doctrines developed regarding the legal uncertainty against the revocation of the right to citizenship, “As a matter of fact, there are such opinions in the doctrine in universities on the subject. In the doctrines, there are those who think that if people's citizenship is not revoked or canceled for 60 days or more, this citizenship should continue just like the citizenship acquired by birth. We agree with them,” he said. 

 

SOLUTION 

 

Emphasizing that as the Migrant and Refugee Solidarity Network, they will continue to focus on such problems faced by refugees and migrants, Diler continued: “No matter how long people residing in Turkey under temporary protection status reside in Turkey, their residence period is not recorded in their citizenship applications. We think that a legal regulation should be made regarding this. Likewise, even if citizenship applications are accepted, people's citizenship can be revoked for any reason. We do not find it right for the administration to have such broad discretionary powers. While the administration is given very wide powers, at the same time, there is no time limit for these powers. This prevents people from living in security even after obtaining their citizenship. We think that a regulation should be made against this and citizenship revocations should be tied to a period of time.”  

 

MA / Ömer İbrahimoğlu