Every year, more than 4 million people from the Kurdish regions go to the western Turkish provinces as seasonal workers, employed mainly in agriculture for around six months a year.
MP for the Green Left Party, Dilan Kunt, denounced the racism and unworthy living conditions suffered by these seasonal workers and called on parliament to adopt regulations to solve the problems they experienced.
Kunt referred to the death of Esmanur Solmaz, a 4-year-old girl, whose family came from Urfa to Bursa to work in the fields, who was run over by a tractor as they slept near it. She said it was not an accident and that the girl died because seasonal workers do not have any social protection. Kunt also said that the culprit for these deaths was the parliament because it had not made regulations or laws in favor of the workers.
At least 4 million seasonal workers
Pointing out that at least four million workers from Kurdistan travel to Western cities for work and experience various problems, Kunt said workers lack legal rights and guarantees. Kunt added: "The AKP government never puts this problem experienced by the inhabitants of the region on the agenda, and the elected officials remain deaf to the problems of seasonal workers, as they do for all other problems. It is not said for nothing that this government is the government of the rich."
Racist discrimination and attacks
Pointing out that there are at least one million child workers across Kurdistan and Turkey, and that half of them are employed in agriculture, Kunt drew attention to discriminatory and racist attacks and practices against seasonal workers. Kunt continued: "In addition to their working and living conditions, fascist and racist attacks against seasonal workers are experienced every year and have increased in recent years with the rise of nationalism and anti-Kurdish discriminatory discourse. Seasonal workers in Afyon, Sakarya, Ankara and Bartın, have been victims of racist attacks because they spoke Kurdish and were Kurdish. They were seriously injured and no effective investigation was carried out against the perpetrators. The basis of these attacks is that the government and politicians are spreading hate speech against Kurds and that these workers are not considered equal citizens of this country."
