The Unity of Democratic Organisations Britain (DGB) has realised a statement on the current situation regarding thousands of a The Economics Admissions Assessment (ECAA) also known as the Ankara Agreement.
“Firstly; Our effort is not to put pressure on Home Office or influence their decision on delayed response. Our expectation from the Home Office is to establish a fair evaluation system and to decide on the applications in order and on time. Because some Ankara Agreement extension applications after May 2020; while answers are given within 45 days or 3 months, most of the applications made in 2020, which are in the majority, have not yet been answered.
“At the same time, some of our friends who question their application, which is currently under evaluation, are given an answer as “the evaluation of your application is ongoing, we cannot give any information about when it will be concluded, if you want to leave the country, you can withdraw your application”. The long waiting periods in the Ankara Agreement extension applications also adversely affected the commercial and economic conditions of the agreement, causing the agreement to conflict with its structural purpose. On the other hand, waiting periods longer than 6 months have resulted in a violation of human rights as they deprive the applicants of their liberty. As victims do not have a valid visa, they are unable to conclude employment contracts or rental contracts to continue their work and meet their accommodation needs. Therefore, they are deprived of the opportunity to live. In addition, since they do not have a visa, they cannot open a bank account and they cannot keep their accounts in order. This causes disruption in their business and commercial activities…
“Another important issue and humanitarian issue is; Those who lost their family members and relatives due to the pandemic could not and still cannot go to Turkey. Again, for those who have health problems from their families, the Home Office displays an offensive attitude and imposes a painful exit method such as unilateral termination of the agreement. On the one hand, the harsh conditions created by the pandemic, on the other hand, the violations of rights indirectly created by the Home Office have caused serious problems in the lives of our friends. As British Power Union, we have provided food, shelter and economic support to thousands of families, most of whom are Ankara Agreement, in the severe conditions of the pandemic throughout Britain. Just as we have stood by our society until today, we will continue to stand by our society against all kinds of rights violations. As British DGB components, we will follow up on the matter by sending a letter to the Home Office, requesting the establishment of a fairer evaluation system and finalizing the cases of the victims as soon as possible.”