Mersin man sets up shoe polishing business in Britain with just £500 capital after Home Office fails to appear in court
Metin Ali Kalkan poses with his polishing equipment in London. He charges £4.50 per polish
A Turkish shoeshiner has won a two-year battle to ply his trade on the streets of Britain after a court ruled the UK Border Agency had unlawfully rejected his application.
34-year-old Metin Ali Kalkan, who has been polishing shoes in the southern Turkish town of Mersin for the last five years, has successfully carried his business to Britain, where he will be charging customers £4.50 each to give their footwear a shine.
He applied at the UK’s Istanbul consulate two years ago for permission to work in Britain under the Ankara agreement, a European treaty that grants special rights to Turkish citizens.
The UK Border Agency (UKBA) rejected his application because of the nature of the business and the small capital – just £500 – that he planned to bring from Turkey. But a court ruled last week that Mr Kalkan’s application had been handled unlawfully and that he should be allowed into the country at once.
The Home Office did not even defend itself in court.
Mr Kalkan was presented to Turkish journalists in London on Tuesday at a press conference held by the law firm that represented him.
Hakan Camuz, a partner at Dalston-based Kudduz Camuz Solicitors, said the ruling represented an important stage for the Turkish immigration rights in Britain: “With the Metin Kalkan decision, the thesis that Turkish nationals require strong capital to work in Britain has been shelved,” he said.
“The court has confirmed that it is unlawful and unfair for our citizens to be blocked through cumbersome bureaucratic obstacles.
“British officials both in Turkey and the UK must act now for this decision to be worked into case law.”
NO FEE FOR APPLICATIONS
The Ankara agreement, formally known as the European Community Association Agreement (ECAA) with Turkey, allows Turkish nationals to establish themselves in business in the UK. No fee is charged for applications under the scheme, which are handled by a dedicated team in Sheffield.
Metin Ali Kalkan with KC Law’s Hakan Camuz
Mr Camuz said that a wide range of professions – computer programmers, artists, journalists, doctors, architects, engineers, fashion designers, beauticians and hairdressers, cake chefs and jewellers among them – had been granted permission to work in Britain under the Ankara agreement since a landmark test case at the European Court of Justice in 2007 ruled the Home Office was unlawfully preventing applications.
The UKBA has granted since granted permission to work in the UK to hundreds of Turkish nationals each year.
However the Kalkan case is believed to be the first time an applicant granted a visa after declaring such a small amount of money.
But applicants have complained about slow processing times that can last several months. One applicant who spoke to Londra Gazete said she was still waiting for a response after submitting her paperwork, including her current passport, six months ago.
EQUAL STATUS TARGET
Mr Camuz said his firm’s eventual objective was for Turkish businessmen to be granted precisely the same rights as their counterparts from other EU countries, which he argues the Ankara agreement permits.
“We have other projects in place to support this objective which we will make public in the future,” he said. “We believe there are opportunities for our work to be shown as an example to other EU countries and will open the door to many opportunities.
“We must emphasise this point: in Turkey’s voyage towards the European Union, the Ankara agreement provides Turkish citizens with important rights. But these rights are not being implemented. Our ultimate objective is to establish the legal bedrock that would allow a businessman from Turkey to be able to travel within the European Union’s borders and freely conduct business activities.”
Londra Gazete asked Mark Harper, the immigration minister, to explain how the government expected to meet its target its target of reducing annual net migration below 100,000 when non-skilled workers like Mr Kalkan could be admitted through means it cannot control.
A Home Office spokesperson responded by saying they did not routinely comment on individual cases and added:
“Our tough new rules are already taking effect with overall net migration falling by almost one third since the last election.
“The UK has been bound by the European Community Association Agreement since 1973. Under the Agreement, we must be satisfied an applicant has a clear intention to establish a business and can support themselves and any dependents.”