Afghans in Turkey

[5] This number likely includes citizens, legal residents, visitors, and the aforementioned refugees and asylum seekers.

The ones who are refugees or asylum seekers are protected from forceful deportation by the well-established non-refoulement principle and the U.N. Convention Against Torture.

[10] Like many other migrants, the Afghans often use Turkey as a place of temporary residence to meet overseas family members, relatives and friends.

Many others are en route to the European Union (EU) for the purpose of applying for asylum in countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom.

[14] In the following years, the number of Afghans entering Turkey greatly increased, second only to migrants from Iraq; in 2009, there were 16,000 people designated under the Iraq-Afghanistan category.