Migreurop presentation, May 28, 2010

An introductory comment--

The Migrant Solidarity Network is an Istanbul-based and quite recent network initiative, active since September 2009. It consists of people from different walks of life who refuse to be complicit in the criminalization of and discrimination against migrants; and who insist that the rights such as the right to residence, work, health, and education are rights to which everyone is entitled regardless of their citizenship and regardless of whether they are “documented” or not. 

What makes MSN rather unique vis a vis other existing organizations in Turkey concerned with the predicament of migrants may briefly, though not exclusively, be captured under the following three headings: 

--in terms of organizational structure: MSN is not an NGO, nor is it an association. Rather it is a network, resolutely committed to the principles of equality and transparency. Participation in the MigSoldNetwork operates on the simple principle that anyone who wants to be active in the realm of concerns encountered by migrants may join the initiative by attending the open meetings held every week.

--in terms of scope: unlike various NGOs and migrant associations whose primary focus tends to be either with refugees/asylum seekers, or alternatively, with immigrants who already have citizenship, the MigSolNet deliberately deploys the term migrant to encompass everyone who may fall into any of these legal categories, which, as we continually point out,  are themselves  quite arbitrarily designated.  While we do acknowledge the different practical consequences in the everyday experiences of the migrants that result from occupying one of these categories of the migrants,  our aim is also to be skeptical of these distinctions, and particularly the distinction between legal (aka deserving) and illegal migrants.  

--in terms of our political stance: although the group has diverse members who  subscribe to a variety of opinions, the common denominator is our shared sensibility that everyone has the right to unconditional freedom of movement and the right to dwell wherever they choose. We begin not by assuming the standpoint of nation-states and their borders but rather from the principle of movement as a fundamental right and thus proclaim that it is not human beings who are unlawful; it is only borders and institutions that establish and maintain those borders that are illegitimate.

The MSN has so far been engaged in various activities that aim to render visible the predicament of migrants in Turkey and to place the question of migrants on the agenda of oppositional groups, particularly the trade unions and occupational associations. A main focus so far has revolved precisely around the theme of this panel: detention.  In Turkey, the detention centers where migrants are imprisoned are termed “guesthouses,” a perverse irony in the context of a national culture that perpetually highlights hospitality as a national virtue.  (Now with the new legislation being proposed, they are to be renamed, no less euphemistically, as “return centers”).

The “Kumkapı Foreigners Guesthouse” is one of the many migrant detention centers in Turkey, and in rather uncharacteristic fashion, it is located in the heart of the historical peninsula, a location also famous for its boisterous nightlife. Once again, the irony of the term “guesthouse” overshadows the reality that migrants in these centers may be imprisoned, without any defined legal conventions, from one month to a year or even more, deprived from exercising their basic rights upheld in national and international documents.

Before our first protest event in front of the Kumkapı detention center, we organized a forum, extending an open invitation to all those interested to partake in discussing and planning the campaign. The ensuing discussion crystallized some of the potential pitfalls or points of concern for such a mobilization against the detention centers, among which I will note two:

       - By choosing such a central location to render visible the plight of those detained in the Kumkapı detention center, might our actions encourage the transfer of this particular center to a more isolated location, as is usually the case for detention centers around the world? Might our very goal for visibility result in yet further invisibility?

        - How could we reasonably gauge the effects of our protest on the prisoners? Was there even the slightest chance that our protest might trigger worse treatment of the migrants at the hands of the police?

Bearing in mind these concerns, we announced as wide a call as possible to the press and concerned parties.  On February 27, 2009, a group of 70?? gathered right outside the Kumkapı detention center, carrying placards that read “you are not alone” in many different languages, along with a banner with the slogan “A prisonhouse not a guesthouse.” Several migrants in the detention center gathered at the windows from which they could see us standing on the sidewalk, and the migrants  initiated the chanting from behind the bars, shouting out “Libere.” One person managed to drop a handwritten note, which read, “they hurt us.” After reading the press release which underscored the violations against the detainees, the protest continued with slogans chanted by the protesters and the migrants behind the bars until a police officer bluntly posed the following threat: “if you do not disperse right now, we will call in the riot squads and wreak havoc inside.” The protest was terminated immediately, as this was precisely the kind of retaliation that we were wary of and under no condition wanted to risk.  

About a month after this first visit, the Ministry of Interior issued a directive under the title “Fighting irregular migration” where it is stated that the Guesthouses will be renamed as “Return Centers” and that a host of “improvements” are to be initiated. Among these promised improvements are: provision of hot water three times a week, proper ventilation and adequate lighting in the rooms of imprisonment, meals with adequate calories three times a day;  additionally,  access to health services and legal counseling, including the right to appeal detention and deportation sentences. Finally, there is the stated goal of establishing such centers in every city in the country with a minimum capacity of 50. 

Our second protest visit to the Kumkapı detention center directly tackled this directive, emphasizing the following points:

       - The circular issued by the ministry is also an inevitable but unwitting admission of the violations that have been perpetrated against the migrants up until now.

       - Improving the conditions of imprisonment does not legitimize the act of imprisonment itself. In an effort to symbolically enact our point that the proposed ameliorations are merely like the veneer on the façade, a birdcage with the label “guesthouse” on it was painted with red during the street protest. 

We also discussed yet another conundrum that has emerged in the face of the new promised regulations for mobilizing around detention: namely, 

The tension between, on the one hand, recognizing that for individual migrants, “improvements” such as proper meals and ventilation plus access to legal aid is better than no having no rights at all, and on the other hand, insisting that whatever improvements may be enacted, detention centers are unacceptable in the first place. 

Subsequent to our second visit, we organized another forum which situated the question of detention in the larger context of the entire body of the new legislation being proposed concerning the asylum system in Turkey and the regulating of “illegal” migration. Since that entire discussion would distract from the particular focus at hand, let me conclude this presentation by selecting the major points raised at the forum in relation to the specific question of detention. 

While mobilizing around detention is necessary, an exclusive focus on detention may obscure the fact that those detained are only tip of the iceberg: for all the detained migrants, there are thousands of others who live with the threat of detainability, and who, furthermore, are systematically rendered detainable. The global capitalist order that undergoes continual restructuring requires the circulation of a flexible, mobile and disposable labor force. A significant portion of this workforce is comprised by migrant workers who are more easily exploited precisely because of their detainability and ultimately deportability. For that reason, states-- whether it is the Turkish state or various European states-- boast of fortifying borders through improved restrictive measures, while simultaneously there is a certain tacit tolerance of a certain degree of “illegal” migration. While some migrants are deported or detained in these return centers, the greater majority are kept in the constant condition of detainability, so as to maintain a constant supply of cheap, vulnerable, more easily exploited workforce. A campaign around detention, therefore, has to go hand in hand with a constant exposition of the other side of the coin of detention:  constant detainability. This necessitates a broad perspective on migration that is vigilant of the linkages between securitization measures on the one hand and the pervasiveness of the informal economy under global capitalism on the other. 

Notwithstanding all these caveats, we insist on the necessity to continue mobilizing around the Kumkapı detention center in particular, and all detention centers in general.  This is both to stand by our pledge to the imprisoned migrants when we held up our placards that stated “you are not alone,” and to direct public attention to the situation. To that end, we hope to hold our third visit today, delighted to be joined by our friends here today. So I end my presentation with a fragment from the call for our third visit, which this time around, subversively deploys the framing of the Open Doors Festival, an activity that is part of the ongoing events around Istanbul as the cultural capital of 2010, and which enables visits to historically and architecturally important buildings in Istanbul that are usually closed to the public.  As part of this festival, then, we demand that the doors of the Kumkapı Guest House also be opened once and for all. We claim that “if the churches, mosques and historical buildings that you so proudly exhibit are part of your culture, then so are the detention centres!”  and we invite along anyone who wishes for a world without borders, without nations, without exile. 

http://www.migreurop.org/IMG/pdf/Programme_TR_site.pdf

http://www.migreurop.org/article1633.html?lang=en