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The rejection of permanent residency applications filed by some Turkish citizens who moved to the United Kingdom under the Ankara Agreement before 2020, on grounds not previously specified, has drawn comparisons to the “Windrush scandal,” in which Caribbean nationals who arrived in the country between 1948 and 1973 were treated as illegal immigrants.
The Ankara Agreement, signed in 1963 between Türkiye and the then European Economic Community, allowed Turkish nationals to move to the U.K. to set up businesses or work under more favorable terms than those under standard immigration rules.
The route closed to new applicants on Dec. 31, 2020, following Brexit, but those already on it can still extend their stay and apply for permanent residency.
Former Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the lawmaker for Tottenham, a London district with a large Turkish community, posted on the social media platform X about the visa problems facing Turkish businesspeople.
Criticizing the Home Office’s approach toward Turks who set up businesses in the U.K. through the visa route, Lammy said: “The Home Office’s treatment of Turkish businesspeople applying for permanent residency under the Ankara Agreement is unacceptable.”
Comparing the situation to the Windrush scandal, in which Caribbean nationals formally invited to the U.K. between 1948 and 1973 were treated as “illegal immigrants” in 2017, Lammy said careless mistakes had led to devastating consequences and urged the Home Office to act.
Meanwhile, British newspaper The Guardian reported a significant decline in permanent residency applications made under the Ankara Agreement.
According to the report, 3,378 applications were approved in the U.K. between January and June last year, while the number fell to 745 in the same period this year.
The report noted that some applications were rejected based on rules that had not been previously specified.
Among them was a woman who learned she had cancer while in Türkiye during the COVID-19 pandemic and received treatment there after the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS) advised her not to travel due to the risks.
While the woman was asked to leave the U.K. with her three children within a short time, another Turkish businessperson’s application was rejected for not listing a social media account, even though a “social media account” had not been requested.
The Home Office rejected the accusations, saying Ankara Agreement applications are handled as they have been in the past and that each application is assessed individually.
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