60 refugees feared dead after boat sinks in Lake Van
The Turkish Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday that a boat carrying 60 refugees sank in Turkey's Lake Van, close to the Iranian border, and said that the bodies of six of them have been found so far.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announced on Wednesday, July 1, that the boat was likely carrying 55 to 60 refugees.
Their boat sank due to stormy weather in the area on Saturday, June 27, and a search operation began at that time, but so far only six bodies have been found.
Soylu says 11 people have been arrested in connection with the incident.
Turkish media say that the drowned people were likely citizens of Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan who had illegally entered Turkey through Iran and attempted to reach the west of the country via Lake Van.
Usually, asylum seekers seek ways to reach Europe by reaching western Türkiye.
Soylu says the sunken boat is 110 to 120 meters deep in the lake and underwater equipment has been dispatched from Ankara to find the bodies of the deceased.
The Associated Press also reported that similar incidents occurred in Lake Van last year, and 64 people were rescued, but seven refugees lost their lives.
Turkey has closed its borders with Iran since early March last year, but smuggled and clandestine refugees have crossed the border, preferring to cross Lake Van to avoid being caught at police checkpoints.
Official Turkish statistics show that by the end of last year, the country had hosted 3.7 million Syrian refugees and more than 300,000 refugees from other countries, including Iran.
Türkiye is usually a temporary country for foreign asylum seekers seeking asylum in Western countries.
Some Iranians who have the necessary capital to obtain Turkish citizenship through the purchase of real estate also leave the country directly through this means, but their number is very low compared to the approximately 30,000 Iranian refugees in Turkey.
Official Turkish statistics show that over the past three years, about 1,500 Iranian citizens have been able to obtain Turkish citizenship by purchasing housing worth at least $250,000. Iranians are the leading foreign buyers of housing in Turkey.
According to data from the Turkish General Directorate of Migration, in 2019, Turkey hosted more than 5 million foreigners from 192 different countries around the world. Of these, 3 million 695 thousand are Syrian nationals who are under temporary protection, 1 million 70 thousand have settled in Turkey with residence permits, and more than 324 thousand have applied for asylum upon coming to Turkey and are seeking resettlement in a third country.
Three-quarters of refugees in Türkiye have entered the country through illegal and smuggled routes.
Source: Radio Farda
