Foreign Juvenile Delinquency: The Case of Istanbul

Abstract

There are many factors that make “illegal migration” become one of the greatest problems of the contemporary world. The most significant ones of these factors are economic inequality, states’ incompetence in securing their peoples’ lives, political turmoils and acts of violence. No matter they are the source or target countries, all nations are in search of possible national and multinational solutions against the issue of illegal migration, illegal immigrant and refugee that chronically deliver great deal of problems. In conjunction with illegal immigration, another problematic phonemenon is revelaed: Foreign juvenile delinquency. Both illegally entered a country and involved in criminality, foreign juvenile delinquency is like a double edged dagger stabbed in the very heart of metropolitan areas. In this regard, foreign juvenile delinquency can be defined as a social problem which is affected by large-scale social events and trans- formations such as economic crisis, wars and political conflicts. The aim of this study is to introduce a general profile of the foreign juveniles that entered Turkey either legally or illegally and committed a crime and arrested by law enforcers in Istanbul. Files of 1130 juveniles who committed judicial or administrative crimes are compiled and examined from 2007 to the first four months of 2009.