How Street-Level Bureaucrats Perceive and Deal with Irregular Migration From Borders: The Case of Van, Türkiye

ABSTRACT

This study presents field research about policy implementation to manage and minimize irregular migration in the border region of Van province in eastern Turkey. For this purpose, this article finds out how street-level bureaucrats at the Turkish-Iranian border perceive and deal with irregular migration. The conceptual framework covers the evolving use of Lipsky’s (1980) street-level bureaucracy approach in the public policy literature. The field research comprises interviews with a total of thirty-two border bureaucrats as street-level bureaucrats in the province of Van on the Turkish-Iranian border. Then, in the findings, six issues came to the fore in the implementation of border policy on irregular migration: the geography and climate, the intervention, the institutional relations, the judicial legislation, the physical and technological measures, and the role of the Iranian State. Finally, the discussion evaluates and reveals a “vicious circle of border security” that reduces the effectiveness of the policy implementation.

KEYWORDS:

• Street-level bureaucracy
• policy implementation
• border security
• irregular migration
• Turkish-Iranian border

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Since 2017, even though more than 3 million Syrians still stay in Türkiye, Syrians are officially under temporary protection by the Turkish government (Presidency of Migration Management 2022).

2 The Social Sciences Institute of Hacettepe University (Protocol Number: 12908312-300, Ethical Commission Permission)

3 Authorization of the Van Governorship (Protocol No: 11648479-E.18140, Date: August 9, 2019)

4 Upon the intensification of terrorist incidents, on March 26, 1985, the security ranger system was accepted by amending Article 74 of Village Law No. 442. The duties of security rangers include “catching the accused suspects before or after the crime is committed before their traces are lost” in their area of responsibility (The Ordinance of the Village Guard, 2000).

5 Art. 23 of Law No. 5683 states that those who cannot leave Türkiye for any reason, despite being ordered to be taken out of the country, are obliged to accommodate in the place indicated by the Ministry of Interior.

6 Law No. 5682 (Section 4) states that foreigners who come to the borders of Türkiye without valid passports are turned away.

7 Protocol on the Prevention, Suppression, and Punishment of Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and Protocol Against Migrant Smuggling by Land, Sea, and Air (2000)

8 Art. 18 of Law No. 7242 on the Execution of Penalties and Security Measures and Amending Some Laws

9 Press Advertisement Agency (2020). 144 Km Firewall to the Turkish-Iranian Border, https://www.bik.gov.tr/turkiye-iran-sinirina-144-kmlik-guvenlik-duvari/ (Access Date: 10.12.2020).