Africa-Press – Uganda. The Ugandan government is engaging Istanbul to free 87 Ugandans currently held in about six detention centres in Turkey, the foreign affairs ministry has said.
In a statement, Uganda’s foreign affairs ministry said its embassy in Ankara-Turkey has since visited all the detention centres which include Harmandali, Silvre, Tuzla, Erzurum 1, Erzurum 2, and Edirne to offer the necessary consular and legal assistance required.
“Following these consular visits, 87 Ugandans have been identified and confirmed by the officials of the Ugandan Embassy in Turkey to have been detained by the Turkish Authorities due to overstay of their visas which is in breach of the immigration regulations of the Republic of Turkey,” foreign affairs permanent secretary Vincent Bagiire noted on Friday.
The Ugandan government says it is committed to “continue engaging with the relevant Turkish authorities to find a mutually acceptable solution to address these concerns and the affected families will be updated in due course.”
However, Bagiire urged thousands of Ugandan littered around the globe to abide by the immigration regulations of the host countries to avoid similar arrests.
The law
Overstaying in Turkey is regulated under Turkish Passport law 5682 with far-reaching legal repercussions including; immediate deportation, paying a penalty fee, and a five-year ban from entering into the country.
The charges are levied on culprits if they break the 90-in-180 rule, where one exceeds the time issued on their passport or when they forgot to renew their residence permit before its time was up.
Those on education, work, and investment are the only ones allowed to extend their stay while visitors and tourists are not allowed to extend their stay in Turkey beyond 90 days.
Speaking to Monitor early this week, the Ugandan ambassador to Turkey Nusura Tiperu said majority of the detainees are women and also intimated that Turkish authorities have been carrying out operations on illegal migrants for the last two months.
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