Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Shaker Aamer has been released from detention in Türkiye after spending weeks facing deportation, according to UK pressure group CAGE International, which is calling for a security restriction on his record to be removed.
Announcing his release on 9 October, CAGE said Aamer has lived in Türkiye since 2019 with his wife and young child, but has struggled to resolve his immigration status because of a G-87 restriction code. The organisation wants Turkish authorities to lift the code and grant him residency.
In its earlier appeal, CAGE said Aamer was being held at the Binkılıç Removal Centre after authorities refused to renew his residence permit. It said there was no criminal investigation or prosecution against him in Türkiye and, citing his lawyers, alleged that his detention was based on information originating from the United States.
G-87 is an administrative restriction code used by Turkish immigration authorities for foreign nationals considered a public security risk. According to Candoğan Law Firm, it can lead to entry bans, residence permit refusals and deportation proceedings, potentially accompanied by administrative detention. It is a security designation rather than a criminal conviction, and related decisions can be challenged through administrative applications and the courts.
Anas Mustapha, CAGE International’s Head of Public Advocacy, urged Turkish authorities to “lift the G-87 code and grant him residency, so that the shadow of Guantanamo does not follow him forever.”
Saudi-born Aamer was a permanent UK resident who had lived in London with his family before travelling to Afghanistan in 2001. According to legal charity Reprieve, which represented him, he was undertaking charity work when he was kidnapped and sold to American forces. His capture came amid US bounty offers in Afghanistan and Pakistan rewarding those who handed over alleged suspects during the post-9/11 “war on terror”.
Aamer was held at the US military facility in Bagram before being flown to Guantanamo Bay, the American detention camp in Cuba, in February 2002. He described torture during his captivity and spent nearly 14 years in US custody without charge or trial, despite being cleared for release twice. Following a sustained campaign, he was finally freed and returned to the UK on 30 October 2015.
