Deportation order
The deportation procedure, which was envisaged in the abrogated Law No. 5683 as a coercive measure for those who do not comply with the invitation to leave the country after being invited to do so, has been reorganized in the LFIP within a structure based on a decision-making process, and general expressions that are difficult to understand, which constitute the focal point of the discussions, have been avoided as much as possible.
According to Article 19 of the abrogated Law No. 5683, there were two main grounds for the deportation of foreigners: firstly, “public security” and secondly, “contrary to political and necessities”. These concepts, the content and boundaries of which were not very clear, formed the backbone of the deportation procedure over time, and since the practice was shaped under the wide discretionary power of the administration, debates have always continued.
The “deportation decision” is of key importance in the LFIP. Considering for a moment that Article 53, which regulates the deportation decision, has been removed from the text, it will be seen that the basis for the subsequent deportation provisions has disappeared. Therefore, it is an absolute condition that deportation is based on a decision. The deportation section of the Law begins by granting the administration the right to deport foreigners, but states that this can only be done with a deportation decision:
“Foreigners may be deported to their country of origin or transit destination or to a third country by a deportation order.”
According to the text of the Article, the mandatory elements of deportation are as follows:
a) Non-Turkish Citizenship
In order to be deported, it is a rule that the person subject to the deportation procedure must legally be a foreigner. It is not possible to take action under Article 52 of the LFIP against a person who has Turkish citizenship and has not already renounced or revoked his/her citizenship.
b) Decision on Deportation
The deportation decision taken by the administration in accordance with the legislation is the second element of the procedure. Deportation proceedings will be initiated with an unwritten and undelivered order. The details of the decision is the title of the next article and will be examined when appropriate.
c) Determination of the Country of Deportation
In deportation proceedings, the priority is to send the foreigner to his/her home country. As can be seen in Article 52 above, deportation to the country of transit or to a third country is introduced as the second and third options. Firstly, it is clear that the use of the phrase “to the country of origin” is purposeful. The written or general customs of international migration law also reveal that this is the natural structure of the practice.
The term “country of origin” is defined in the migration literature as “the country that is the regular or irregular source of migration flows”. When we consider that the foreigner subject to deportation has become a part of irregular migration, the country of origin is the country of nationality of the foreigner. The legislator’s preference for the phrase “country of origin” instead of “country of origin” is intended to expand the scope of the concept. This is because the country where the foreigner has stayed for a long time or has the right to stay is considered as the country of origin.
It is quite clear that deportation is the process of removing foreigners who are not desirable to stay in the country from the borders of the country. The grounds for this procedure may be violating visa expiry dates, working without permission, etc., failing to comply with administrative orders, or being involved in criminal offenses that pose a serious threat to public order and security or public health. In this case, the widespread practice of deporting foreigners to countries other than their home country has the potential to damage the relations between two countries based on goodwill and trust over time, as such practices may also create the perception of “hiding people from that country”. Moreover, there must be justifiable grounds for deportation to a third country. Some of these are as follows:
a) Failure to provide these documents within a reasonable period of time despite contacting the representative offices of the country of nationality of the foreigner in order to complete the deficiencies in the travel documents,
b) Difficulties in establishing travel itineraries for the foreigner’s country due to geographical remoteness and transportation network problems,
c) The foreigner’s insistence not to return to his country for justified reasons
If the person to be deported is to be sent to a third country and not to his/her home country, it is very important that the authorities of that country confirm that he/she will be accepted.
You can access our other articles and petition examples by clicking here.