Turkish Interior Minister Ali Erlikai has reported that foreigners entering Turkey will now be fingerprinted, as they already do in the US and Great Britain.
The Minister also described a number of measures to be taken with regard to Syrian citizens:
- The identity cards of those who have temporary protection status (usually Syrian citizens) will now be digital to avoid the possibility of forgery.
- Social support and public services will be suspended for those Syrian citizens who do not confirm their addresses in the e-devlet system. The total number of Syrians who must confirm their address is 396,738. Citizens who have not registered within 14 days will be suspended from providing social services and state support. They will be given a final deadline of 60 days to confirm the address of residence, after which, if they do not meet the requirements, they will be officially recognized as illegal.
Turkey has 4 million 437 thousand 329 foreigners registered. Of these, 3 million 103 thousand are Syrians. 1 million 109 thousand Syrians have a residence permit, and 224 thousand are under international protection. The annual government expenditure per person is 1,000 euros. In the past year, 132,288 Syrians have voluntarily returned to their country, and in the last five years, the number of voluntary returnees has been 687,706.