Afghans flee to eastern Turkey as Taliban takes control amid chaos

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

55% : Breaking up into smaller groups of about 30 people, the refugees and migrants from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Bangladesh waited for a flashlight signal from Yukarıtulgalı village, 800 metres away - a sign the path was free of border guards - before hurrying through the darkness.
53% : We used the mountain road [to Iran] and got stopped by Turkish soldiers at the border, but they let us go.
51% : Larger numbers of people are also making their way overland to Iran, and
50% : "There is a spike in people crossing from Iran to Van every summer.
46% : A lot of the time the Afghans who come are already living undocumented in Pakistan or Iran, but we are watching for a possible new influx thanks to the US troops leaving," said Mahmut Kaçan, a Van-based lawyer specialising in immigration and asylum cases.
45% : Earlier this week, the Turkish interior ministry spokesperson, İsmail Çataklı, sought to downplay reports of a fresh wave of refugees, saying video and photographs of long lines of people walking in single file along roads in Iran, just 700 metres from the Turkish border, did not mean they would be able to enter Turkey.
41% : Ongoing work to put up security walls, observation towers, floodlights and wireless sensors along Turkey's borders with Iran and Iraq were 90% complete, he said, adding that "when the project is completed, terrorism, illegal crossing, smuggling, cross-border crimes will be prevented.

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