Biometric Technology and Policy Narratives on Migration Control: The Case of Turkey

Yıl 2024, Cilt: 2 Sayı: 1, 65 - 84, 30.04.2024

Rabia Karakaya Polat

Öz

This paper analyses policy narratives on the use of biometric technology in mobile migration vehicles as a means of surveillance and control over irregular migration. Equipped with biometric control technology and appearing in random places with high migrant concentrations, these vehicles have been put into operation as effective control and surveillance tools. Drawing upon literatures on technological control, migration governance, and interpretive policy analysis (IPA), the paper demonstrates how these vehicles are deployed not only for controlling irregular migration but also for instilling a sense of control to the general public. Comparison of these mobile migration points to the ‘Go Home Van’ campaign in the UK in 2013 reveals interesting differences in their design, function, and public perception. The paper also demonstrates how new technologies enable governments to combine ‘softer’ and ‘more subtle’ approaches in migration control with more coercive measures such as detention and deportation.

Anahtar Kelimeler

interpretive policy analysis, biometric technology, migration control, mobile migration van, policy narratives

Biyometrik Teknoloji ve Göç Kontrolüne Dair Politika Anlatıları: Türkiye Örneği

Öz

Bu makale, biyometrik teknolojinin düzensiz göçü gözetleme ve kontrol etme aracı olarak mobil göç araçlarında kullanımına ilişkin politika söylemlerini analiz etmektedir. Biyometrik kontrol teknolojisiyle donatılan ve göçmenlerin yoğun olarak bulunduğu rastgele yerlerde ortaya çıkan bu araçlar, etkili kontrol ve gözetim araçları olarak faaliyete geçirilmiştir. Teknolojik kontrol, göç yönetişimi ve yorumlayıcı politika analizi (IPA) literatürlerine dayanan bu makale, bu araçların sadece düzensiz göçü kontrol etmek için değil, aynı zamanda genel kamuoyuna bir kontrol duygusu aşılamak için nasıl kullanıldığını göstermektedir. Bu mobil göç noktalarının 2013 yılında Birleşik Krallık'ta uygulanan 'Go Home Van' kampanyası ile karşılaştırılması, tasarım, işlev ve kamuoyu algısı açısından ilginç farklılıklar ortaya koymaktadır. Çalışma aynı zamanda yeni teknolojilerin hükümetlerin göç kontrolünde 'daha yumuşak' ve 'daha incelikli' yaklaşımları gözaltı ve sınır dışı etme gibi daha zorlayıcı tedbirlerle nasıl birleştirebildiklerini de göstermektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Biyometrik teknoloji, göç kontrolü, göç yönetimi, göç anlatıları, yorumlayıcı politika analizi, mobil göç noktası

Kaynakça

• Alencar, Amanda, Katherina Kondova, and Wannes Ribbens (2019). “The Smartphone as a Lifeline: An Exploration of Refugees’ Use of Mobile Communication Technologies During Their Flight”, Media, Culture & Society, 41 (6): 828–844.
• Amin, Solin Muhammed (2022). “Syrian Farmers Trapped by ‘Erdogan’s Wall’”, Al-Monitor, 10 October 2022, https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/10/syrian-farmers-trapped-erdogans-wall, (Accessed: 14 March 2024).
• Bigo, Didier (2001). “To reassure and protect after September 11th”, Social Science Research Council Essays; http://www.ssrc.org/sept11/essays/bigo.htm.
• Biyokteksan (2022). Promotional video of biometric technology used in mobile migration vans, https://www.biyoteksan.com.tr/nitelikli-parmak-izi-tanima-urunu-2 (Accessed: 14 March 2024).
• Canga, Pınar and Simon Behrman (2022). “The Impact of the European Union on Turkey’s Policy of Immigration Detention”, European Journal of Migration and Law, 24: 357-378.
• Danış, Didem and Dilara Nazlı (2018). “A Faithful Alliance Between the Civil Society and the State: Actors and Mechanisms of Accommodating Syrian Refugees in Istanbul”, International Migration, 57 (2): 143–157.
• Eder, Mine Sadiye and Derya Özkul (2016). “Editors’ Introduction: Precarious Lives and Syrian Refugees in Turkey”, New Perspectives on Turkey, 54: 1–8.
• Erdoğan, Murat (2020). Syrians Barometer 2019: A Framework for Achieving Social Cohesion with Syrians in Turkey, UNHCR, July 2020, Ankara: Orion Kitabevi, https://www.unhcr.org/tr/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2020/09/SB2019-ENG-04092020.pdf (Accessed: 14 March 2024).
• Frontex (2019). https://www.frontex.europa.eu/media-centre/news/news-release/frontex-rolls-out-its-own-patrol-cars-in-operations-Fiwwui, (Accessed: 14 March 2024)
• Göktürk, Beraa (2023). “Türkiye Prepares Homes in Northern Syria for Voluntary Return of Syrian Refugees”, Anadolu News Agency, 26 May 2023, https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/turkiye-prepares-homes-in-northern-syria-for-voluntary-return-of-syrian-refugees/2906813 (Accessed: 27 February 2024).
• Grünenberg, Kristina, Perle Møhl, Karen Fog Olwig, and Anja Simonsen (2022). “Issue Introduction: Identities and Identity: Biometric Technologies, Borders and Migration”, Ethnos, 87 (2): 211-222.
• Hakan, Ahmet (2023). “İçişleri Bakanı Yerlikaya’dan Hürriyet’e özel açıklamalar. Kaçak göçmen operasyonlarıyla ilgili tüm ayrıntılar”, Hurriyet, https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/yazarlar/ahmet-hakan/icisleri-bakani-yerlikayadan-hurriyete-ozel-aciklamalar-kacak-gocmen-operasyonlariyla-ilgili-tum-ayrintilar-42295810 (Accessed: 14 March 2024).
• Jones, Reece and Corey Johnson (2016). “Border Militarization and the Rearticulation of Sovereignty”, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 41 (2): 187–200.
• Koca, Burcu Toğral (2022). “Bordering Processes through the Use of Technology: The Turkish Case”, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48 (8): 1909-1926.
• Lowndes, Vivien and Roda Madziva (2016). “‘When I Look at this Van, It’s Not Only a Van’: Symbolic Objects in the Policing of Migration”, Critical Social Policy, 36 (4): 672–692.
• Lowndes, Vivien and Rabia Karakaya Polat (2022). “How Do Local Actors Interpret, Enact and Contest Policy? An Analysis of Local Government Responses to Meeting the Needs of Syrian Refugees in Turkey”, Local Government Studies, 48 (3): 555-569.
• Mencütek, Zeynep and Musa Kurt (2023). “The Politicization of Refugees in Turkey’s Elections is Not Yet Over with Local Elections on the Way”, Decentring the Study of Migrant Returns and Return Policies, 10 July 2023, https://www.returnmigration.eu/gapsblog/the-politicization-of-refugees-in-turkeys-elections-is-not-yet-over (Accessed: 14 March 2024).
• Mencütek, Zeynep Şahin (2021). “Governing Practices and Strategic Narratives for Syrian Refugee Returns”, Journal of Refugee Studies, 34 (3):2804–2826.
• Merisalo, Maria and Jussi Jauhiainen (2021). “Asylum-Related Migrants’ Social-Media Use, Mobility Decisions, and Resilience”, Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 19 (2): 184-198.
• Ministry of Interior (2022). “Türkiye'nin Geri Gönderme Merkezleri Kapasitesi 20 Bine Çıkacak”, https://www.icisleri.gov.tr/turkiyenin-geri-gonderme-merkezleri-kapasitesi-20-bine-cikacak (14 March 2024).
• Olwig, Karen Fog, Kristina Grünenberg, Perle Møhl, and Anja Simonsen (2020). The Biometric Border World: Technologies, Bodies and Identities on the Move. Oxon & New York: Routledge.
• Polat, Rabia Karakaya (2018). “Religious Solidarity, Historical Mission and Moral Superiority: Construction of External and Internal ‘Others’ in AKP’s Discourses on Syrian Refugees”, Critical Discourse Studies, 15 (5): 500–516.
• Popp, Maximilian (2018). “EU Money Helped Fortify Turkey’s Border”, Der Spiegel, 29 March 2018, https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/firing-at-refugees-eu-money-helped-fortify-turkey-s-border-a-1199667.html (Accessed: 14 March 2024)ç
• Radford, Antoinette (2023). “Turkish Elections: Anti-immigrant Leader Endorses Erdogan Challenger”, BBC, 24 May 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65693118 (Accessed 14 March 2023).
• Sanchez, Gabriel (2024). “Immigration Policy Could Determine the Next President of the United States, Brookings Institute, 4 March, https://www.brookings.edu/articles/immigration-policy-could-determine-the-next-president-of-the-united-states/ (14 March 2024).
• Saylan, İbrahim and Müge Aknur (2023). “Discourses of Turkish Opposition Political Parties towards Syrian Refugees: Securitization and Repatriation”, Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, Temmuz 2023(2): 259-283.
• Stenum, Helle (2017). “The Body-Border – Governing Irregular Migration through Biometric Technology”, Journal of Digital Cultures, 4: 1-16. UNHCR (2024). https://www.unhcr.org/tr/en/overview-2#:~:text=T%C3%BCrkiye%20is%20home%20to%20the,asylum%2Dseekers%20of%20other%20nationalities (Accessed: 14 March 2024).
• Unmüßig, Barbara and Ska Keller (2012). Preface. Borderline (eds. Ben Hayes, Mathias, Vermeulen). Berlin: Heinrich Böll Foundation.
• Wagenaar, Hendrik (2011). Meaning in Action: Interpretation and Dialogue in Policy Analysis. New York: Sharpe.
• Weber, Leanne and Bowling, Benjamin (2004). “Policing Migration: A Framework for Investigating the Regulation of Global Mobility”, Policing and Society, 14(3), 195–212.
• Wienroth, Matthias and Nina Amelung (2023). “‘Crisis’, Control and Circulation: Biometric Surveillance in the Policing of the ‘Crimmigrant Other’”, International Journal of Police Science & Management, 25 (3): 297–312.
• Wilson, Dean Jonathan (2006). Biometrics, Borders and the Ideal Suspect in Borders, Mobility and Technologies of Control, The Netherlands: Springer.
• Yanow, Dvora (2000). Conducting Interpretive Policy Analysis. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
• Yanow, Dvora (1996). How Does a Policy Mean? Washington: Georgetown University Press. Yerlikaya, Ali (2024). X, 10 February 2024, https://twitter.com/AliYerlikaya/status/1756243424104120630 (Accessed 14 March 2023).
• Yıldırım, Göksel (2022). “2 Milyon Kimlik Belgesi Yerli Parmak İzi Tanıma Sistemiyle Hazırlandı”, Anadolu News Agency, 2 March, https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/gundem/2-milyon-kimlik-belgesi-yerli-parmak-izi-tanima-sistemiyle-hazirlandi/2520694 (Accessed: 14 March 2024).
• Yüksel, İlke Şanlıer (2022). “Empowering Experiences of Digitally Mediated Flows of Information for Connected Migrants on the Move”, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48 (8): 1838–1855.
• Zavrsnik, Ales (2019). “The European Digital Fortress and Large Biometric EU IT Systems: Border Criminology, Technology, and Human Rights”, Homelands, 49: 51-66.