Commencement date for immigration amnesty will be announced in due time

TRNC Minister of Interior Ziya Öztürklehas said the “Immigration amnesty program of the government is important in order to ensure registration in the country.”

Öztürkler speaking in a television program on Wednesday, said, “The scope of the recently issued immigration amnesty has been narrowed in the parliament and therefore the necessary efficiency has not been achieved. Many of our people continued to live illegally and remain grounded due to limited time and covid conditions, he added.

Stating that the new immigration amnesty will be more inclusive in the form of a general amnesty, Öztürkler said, “We see the immigration amnesty as an important step in terms of registering people who are illegal in the country, who have to stay abroad or who cannot complete their procedures in the required time. In a sense, we see the emigration amnesty as an important opportunity to ensure registration in the country.”

Stating that at the stage reached within the scope of the immigration amnesty, the legal and technical studies have been completed and brought to the committee stage, Öztürkler noted that the emigration amnesty constitutes an important pillar of the multi-faceted works carried out to ensure registration in the country, and in this context, the amnesty was not issued randomly.  

Öztürkler said, “Generally speaking, we deport foreigners who are irregular and involved in crime in the country. On the other hand, we are blocking the entry of people involved in crime in their country. We continue to work on e-Visa. As a complement to this, we are enacting a comprehensive immigration amnesty.”

Expressing that they kept the scope of the emigration amnesty well, Öztürkler said, “We want the emigration amnesty for foreigners who have been sentenced for some reason in the country or who have been sentenced while abroad to be considered as a last chance.”

***No date has been announced for the commencement of the amnesty.