Turkey Detains Nearly 30,000 Afghans in First Nine Months of 2026
Turkey’s Directorate General of Migration Management said 29,712 Afghan nationals were detained from the start of 2026 until Oct. 1 for “lacking legal residency documents” in the country, a figure that points to a sharp intensification in security and migration enforcement against Afghans.
According to the agency’s official data, more than 19,574 Afghans were detained in the first six months of 2026 alone, and that number rose to 25,314 in the first eight months. With the addition of figures from the following months up to Oct. 1, the number of detentions climbed to nearly 30,000.
Published reports also show that Afghans remain the largest group of undocumented migrants in Turkey. After them, nationals of Syria, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Morocco, Iraq, Egypt, Sudan and Yemen appear on the list of those detained.
According to Turkish officials, the scope of operations in 2026 has expanded from urban inspections and identity checks to patrols along border routes with Iran and Greece and the interception of migrant boats in the Aegean Sea. In the same period, more than 8,000 people were also arrested on charges of human smuggling and cooperating with migrant-trafficking networks.
Despite this, Turkey’s migration authorities have not provided clear details about the fate of the detained Afghans, and have not said how many have been deported, how many are being held in migration detention centres, or how many are awaiting administrative procedures.
Meanwhile, United Nations reports show that more than 13,000 Afghans were expelled from Turkey in the first five months of 2026 alone, a development that has once again highlighted human rights concerns over forced returns and the situation facing returnees.
The UN Refugee Agency and human rights groups have previously warned that forcibly returning Afghans to a country facing economic crisis, social restrictions, insecurity and shortages of basic services could put them at serious risk. According to these organisations, some of those deported face unemployment, homelessness, a lack of social support and restrictions imposed by the Taliban administration after their return.
The rise in detentions is being reported as Turkey in recent years has faced domestic political pressure to control migration, while sections of public opinion in major cities such as Istanbul and Ankara have called for tougher action against undocumented migration.
