Somali
Refugees’ Marriage Not Recognised
(Istanbul, Turkey January
23,
2008 Ceegaag Online)
The Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly (hCa)
publishes the “Refugee Voices” as part of its refugee
support programme. The latest issue features the case of
Mahad Mahmoud and Zehara,
two people who were not allowed to marry officially in
Turkey.
Mahad came to Istanbul from Somalia in 2004. Currently he
works as an interpreter and register official for the hCa’s
Refugee Legal Aid Programme.
Married but not married
Mahad and Zehara met when she came to the association in
order to apply to the United Nations. They fell in love and
married last year.They hired a wedding hall and invited
their Somali and Turkish friends and neighbours to a festive
wedding.
However, because they do not have passports and could not
prove their unmarried status, Turkey does not consider them
officially married.
Meanwhile, Mahad’s refugee application to the USA has been
accepted, and Zehara is allowed to go with him. For the
United States, cohabitation is sufficient proof of a
couple’s status.
Turkey has not accepted their marriage, but because there
is no Somali embassy in Turkey, they cannot obtain the
necessary documents. Thus, Mahad has been sent to a
satellite town in the southern province of Burdur, while
Zehara remains in Istanbul, two months pregnant.
In Somalia, it is apparently not necessary to apply to a
court or a municipality. Rather, a sheikh conducts a kind of
marriage by writing down the names of the spouses and
witnesses and taking their signatures. Mahad and Zehara had
found a refugee sheikh from Sudan in Istanbul and had asked
him to marry them.
In his account in the newsletter, Mahad said: “If they
ask if we are legally married all we can say is that we are
legally married according to our culture.”
He also wrote, “In Somalia, there is nothing working. People
are desperate for security, not to get a letter that says
you are single.”
Required documents
The “Refugee Voices” lists the following procedures for
marriage in Turkey:
- If the couple do not have valid passports, they need
residence permits in Turkey. A letter by the United
Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) or an ID
document from the police are not accepted.
- The couple need a letter from the police station where
they are registered. The letter has to say whether the
refugees are unmarried or officially married. On first
registration with the police this information is recorded.
- The couple has to take those two documents to the
municipality where it is registered and must epress their
wish to get married. However, because the law on marriage
changed in 2007, some municipal civil servants, as well as
some police, may not know enough about the required
documents.
- If a refugee is in need of legal representation, the
hCa Refugee Support Programme or the bar association of
the city will supply support free of charge. (NZ/TK/AG)
Source:
HRC
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