Sunak's UK Türkiye migrant deal dashed by Home Office report

A planned deal to send migrants back to Türkiye from the UK looks unlikely to go ahead after a British government report raised concerns over human rights and security in the country.

The number of Turkish nationals arriving in the UK on small boats has risen substantially over the past year. Around 10 percent of small boat arrivals in 2023 were Turkish nationals, compared to two percent in 2022.

Turkish citizens are now the third largest group by nationality taking the small boats route across the channel, after Syrians and Afghans. Almost all claim fear of persecution if they are sent back.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made "stopping the boats" a key pledge to voters ahead of this year's general election and had been seeking a returns deal with Ankara.

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However, a report by the UK Home Office has concluded that Türkiye doesn't meet the criteria of being generally safe. The review raised concerns over the use of anti-terrorism legislation by the ruling AK party of President Erdogan and the independence of Turkish courts after changes to the rules governing the judiciary.

The development is a blow to UK lawmakers, who have been seeking to replicate the success of a similar arrangement with Albania in 2022. The deal with Tirana has seen a 93 percent fall in the number of Albanian nationals arriving in the UK to claim asylum under modern slavery laws. 

Some members of the ruling Conservative party have voiced misgivings about the Home Office report. On X, the former home secretary, Suella Braverman, described the move as "very concerning" and stressed the Turkish Republic's role as "a member of the Council of Europe, a NATO ally and a Candidate country for EU accession."

The UK government has pointed out that approval rates for Turkish citizens seeking asylum in the UK are generally low. However, success in returning them has been described as "incremental," with many arrivals opting to stay in the country illegally once their claims fail.

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