11/01/2024 | Writer: Oğulcan Özgenç
A trans woman who was held in Ankara Akyurt Removal Center for five months told KaosGL.org about her experiences: “They were wearing masks and gloves when they approached me.”
Visual: Zehra’s picture drawn by another refugee while being held at the GGM
During the interview conducted by our colleagues, the refugee under administrative detention stated that she had been exposed to beatings and physical violence by the security officer, that her basic needs such as water and food had not been met, that she had been subjected to insults and threats of deportation. Our colleagues on duty recorded the statements. The aforementioned actions were not considered by the authorities of the institution, health checks were not carried out after the actions and the authorities did not report the crime, according to the statement of the refugee under administrative detention.”
These statements are taken from the 13 July statement of the Refugee Rights Center of the Ankara Bar Association on the Akyurt Removal Centre (GGM). This GGM is back on agenda following death of 28-year-old Syrian refugee Hasan Muhammed while in administrative detention.
The incidents in the Akyurt GGM in Ankara, which were reported in the press with allegations of torture, point to a systematic problem in removal centres. LGBTI+ refugees held under administrative detention in GGMs are also subjected to ill-treatment on the basis of their sexual identity and orientation.
Iranian refugee Zehra* is a trans woman who was held under administrative detention in Akyurt GGM for 5 months. Zehra described her experience for KaosGL.org: “They put me in a separate room because I was trans, cursed at me, and I was subjected to hate speech.”
She was detained and sent to the GGM after filing a complaint with the police
Zehra had lived in Eskişehir for 8 years before she was detained and sent to a removal center. Zehra says that she came to Turkey to escape the conditions in Iran. She tells the story of her arrival and her experiences as follows:
“I fled from Iran to Turkey in 2015 because my life was not safe. I had many difficulties in Turkey. I stayed on construction sites. I did not speak the language. A year ago I had meningitis. My feet and eyes were damaged. 4 years ago I found out that I was HIV positive.”
Zehra, who has a residence permit, health insurance and a foreign identity card, called the police to complain about a man who had assaulted her in her eighth year in Turkey, and the police arrested Zehra. Once in custody, Zehra was transferred from Eskişehir to Akyurt GGM. Zehra’s lawyer, who was assigned with legal aid, spoke to KaosGL.org and said that they objected against the administrative detention decision however their objection was refused.
“They isolated me in a room because I am a trans”
Zehra, who remained in the detention centre for 5 months after her appeal was rejected, describes the discrimination she experienced in the detention centre on the basis of both her HIV status and her gender identity:
“They mistreated me for being an HIV+ transsexual. They isolated me in a separate room. For instance, the security guards told me: ‘Stay away. We are going to put your food in here, we are going to close the door, you come and get your food.’ They were wearing gloves and masks when they approached. It was based on my HIV status. Because I was transgender, they also swore at me and I was subjected to hate speech.”
“Sometimes they wouldn’t even let me go out in the airing yard”
Zehra elaborates on the conditions of the detention centre, which she describes as “like torture”, as follows:
“The rooms were freezing and full of insects. In the rooms we were in, there wasn’t even a change of sheets once a month. I was there for 5 months, my sheets were washed twice. Most of the time we had no water, the water was turned off. It was like a prison. They said, ‘If you don’t follow our rules, get out and go back to your country.’ They called foreigners ‘savages’.”
After 5 months, Zehra was able to leave the removal center and the court issued a deportation order. Zehra’s lawyer said that the appeal against the deportation order had been rejected and the decision was finalized.
“I have not had access to my HIV medication for three months”
Zehra is now waiting for the decision to be implemented. Zehra explained that her identity card was cancelled after she left the GGM, and since her health insurance was also cancelled, she has been unable to access her HIV medication:
“After I got out, my identity was cancelled. My insurance was cancelled. I have not had access to HIV medication for three months since it was cancelled. I currently have a deportation order. My deportation order has been appealed. But the appeal was refused. They said that the procedures would be carried out and I would be deported within two months and I have been awaiting news.”
“I know what will happen if I go back to Iran,” Zehra says, adding:
“They will kill me in Iran. There is an extreme homophobia and transphobia there. Such a pitch that that I came to Turkey with the support of my family because I could not get an exemption from military service and I was subjected to sexual violence.”
*The name of the speaker has been changed for security reasons.
Translation: Selma Koçak
Tags: human rights, women
