https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9199-0278
![Sample our Politics & International Relations journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5947/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Politics-International-Relations.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
The millions of refugees in Turkey are left in political limbo. Anti-refugee sentiment in society has also become an issue. However, in contradiction to the earlier Muslim solidarity rhetoric of ‘Muhajir and Ansar’, the Turkish government has been implementing its repatriation project that requires a ‘safe and dignified’ voluntary return of a million Syrian refugees to Turkey's safe zone in Northeast Syria. The article argues that the country's current political, economic and social conjuncture overshadows the voluntary character of the government's repatriation project and claims that Turkey's voluntary repatriation project does not meet the requirements of the international refugee protection regime. Building on the policy-oriented approach to international law, the article examines the potential implementation of the preventive dimension of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) on behalf of Syrian ‘returnees’. The article concludes that the ‘two-phase’ responsibility strategy that imposes responsibilities on the host country and the international community, which would be implemented simultaneously in Turkey's repatriation project, can protect returnees from possible danger in Syria. However, it can also set a precedent for future cases by filling a gap in International Refugee Law that does not address voluntary repatriation.
Acknowledgements
The author is grateful to Associate Professor Moncef Khaddar and Professor Ahmet Sozen for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article and their support during this research.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 UNHCR, ‘Voluntary repatriation,’ UNHCR, https://www.unhcr.org/what-we-do/build-better-futures/long-term-solutions/voluntary-repatriation (accessed September 10, 2023).
2 Katy Long, ‘In Search of Sanctuary: Border Closures, ‘Safe’ Zones and Refugee Protection’, Journal of Refugee Studies 26, no. 3 (2013): 458–76, 461.
3 Karin Landgren, ‘(IDPs) - Danger: safe areas’. Refugees Magazine, Issue 103, (1996), https://www.unhcr.org/publications/refugeemag/3b5547d64/refugees-magazine-issue-103-idps-danger-safe-areas.html
4 Long, ‘In Search of Sanctuary’, 461.
5 Sinem Adar, ‘Repatriation to Turkey’s “Safe Zone” in Northeast Syria: Ankara’s Goals and European Concerns’, No.1 January, 2020, https://www.swp-berlin.org/10.18449/2020C01/
6 International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS), The Responsibility to Protect: Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 2001).
7 UN General Assembly, Implementing the responsibility to protect : report of the Secretary-General, 12 January 2009, A/63/677.
8 Alex J. Bellamy, ‘The Responsibility to Protect and the problem of military intervention’, International Affairs 84, no. 4 (2008): 615–39, 619.
9 Brian Barbour and Brian Gorlick, ‘Embracing the 'responsibility to protect': a repertoire of measures including asylum for potential victims’, UNHCR Research Paper No.159 (2008), https://www.unhcr.org/research/working/487b619b0/embracing-responsibility-protect-repertoire-measures-including-asylum-potential.html
10 Susan H. Rimmer, ‘Refugees, internally displaced persons and the ‘responsibility to protect’, UNHCR Research Paper No. 185, (2010), https://www.refworld.org/docid/4c23257d0.html
11 T. Alexander Aleinikoff and Stephen Poellot, ‘The Responsibility to Solve: The International Community and Protracted Refugee Situations’. 54 VA. J. INT’L L. (2014): 195.
12 Alise Coen, R2P, Global Governance, and the Syrian refugee crisis, The International Journal of Human Rights 19, no. 8 (2015): 1044–58.
13 Susan Martin, ‘Forced Migration, the Refugee Regime and the Responsibility to Protect’, Global Responsibility to Protect 2, no. 1 (2010): 38–59.
14 E. Tendayi Achiume, ‘Syria, Cost-Sharing, and the Responsibility to Protect Refugees’, 100 Minnesota Law Review 687 UCLA School of Law Research Paper No. 15-34, (2015):726.
15 Ahmet Içduygu and Maissam Nimer, ‘The Politics of Return: Exploring the Future of Syrian Refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey’, Third World Quarterly 41 (2019): 1–19.
16 Zeynep Şahin Mencütek, ‘Governing Practices and Strategic Narratives for Syrian Refugee Returns’, Journal of Refugee Studies 34, no. 3 (2021): 2804–26.
17 Zeynep Sahin Mencutek, ‘The Geopolitics of Returns: Geopolitical Reasoning and Space-Making in Turkey’s Repatriation Regime’, Geopolitics 28, no. 3 (2023): 1079–105.
18 Lacin Oztig, ‘Refugee Flows, Foreign Policy, and Safe Haven Nexus in Turkey’, Third World Quarterly 43 (2021): 1-19.
19 Birce Demiryontar and Ahmet İçduygu, ‘The Politics around Safe Zones: A Comparative Perspective on Return to Northern Syria’, Third World Quarterly 44, no. 8 (2023): 1754–69.
20 S. G. Ihlamur-Öner, ‘The Global Politics of Refugee Protection and Return: The Case of the Syrian Refugees’, in The Informalisation of the EU’s External Action in the Field of Migration and Asylum, ed. E. Kassoti and N. Idriz (Springer, 2022), 287–315.
21 See the report, UNHCR Türkiye - Operational Update, June 2023, https://www.unhcr.org/tr/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2023/07/UNHCR-Turkiye-Operational-Update-June-23.pdf
22 ‘Blasts kill dozens in Turkish town Reyhanli on Syria border’ BBC, May 11, 2013, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-22494128
23 ‘U.S. Military Withdrawal and Taliban Take over in Afghanistan: Frequently Asked Questions’, Congressional Research Service (2021), https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46879
24 ‘Turkey will not act as EU ‘warehouse’ for Afghan refugees, says Erdogan’, Financial Times (2021), https://www.ft.com/content/09abc27e-607c-4d83-8e39-84eaa179565e
25 ‘Turkey criticizes Austrian leader’s statement on Afghan refugees’, Anadolu Ajansi, (2021) https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/turkey-criticizes-austrian-leaders-statement-on-afghan-refugees/2315022
26 Daniel Derya Bellut,’Riots in Ankara: Xenophobia boils over’, DW, (2021) https://www.dw.com/en/turkey-anti-foreigner-sentiment-boils-over-in-ankara-riots/a-58861412
27 Sertan Sanderson, ‘Turkey turns against migrants as fears of Afghan refugee crisis grow’. Info Migrants, (2021), https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/34891/turkey-turns-against-migrants-as-fears-of-afghan-refugee-crisis-grow
28 Kelly Petillo, ‘From Aid to Inclusion: A Better Way to Help Syrian Refugees in Turkey Lebanon and Jordan’, European Council on Foreign Relations, Policy Brief, 31 January (2023), 6-7.
29 Oytun Orhan and Sabiha Senyücel Gündoğar, ORSAM Report No: 195, Ankara, Turkey: ORSAM and TESEV, January 2015, ISBN 978-605-4615-95-7, 16, https://orsam.org.tr//d_hbanaliz/195eng.pdf (accessed February 19, 2024).
30 Ibid., 17–8.
31 Ibid., 19.
32 Bellut,’Riots in Ankara’
33 Paul Benjamin Osterlund, ‘As Turkey’s economic crisis grows, politicians spar over refugees’, AL JAZEERA (2022) https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/14/as-turkeys-economic-crisis-grows-politicians-spar-over-refugees,
34 UNHCR and UNDP, Syria Situation: 3RP Regional Strategic Overview 2021-2022, (August 2022), 26, https://reporting.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/SYRIA%203RP%20REGIONAL%20STRATEGIC%20OVERVIEW%202021-2022.pdf (accessed February 19, 2024).
35 Ibid., 8.
36 Ibid., 30.
37 Kelly Petillo, ‘From Aid to Inclusion’, 12–13.
38 ‘Turkey prohibits refugees from visiting Syria during Eid al-Fitr’, The New Arab Staff, April 2022, https://www.newarab.com/news/turkey-prohibits-syrians-going-home-eid
39 Filippo Cicciù, ‘Turkey, growing intolerance for migrants’. OBCT Newsletter, (2021), https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Turkey/Turkey-growing-intolerance-for-migrants-212459
40 Lara Villalón, ‘Erdoğan Wants to Send a Million Refugees Back to Northern Syria’. ORIENT XXI, (2022), https://orientxxi.info/magazine/erdogan-wants-to-send-a-million-refugees-back-to-northern-syria,5676
41 Suat Kiniklioğlu, S. (2020) ‘Syrian Refugees in Turkey: Changing Attitudes and Fortunes’. ‘Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), (2020), https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/publication/syrian-refugees-in-turkey-changing-attitudes-and-fortunes
42 ‘Safe zone in northeast Syria could help millions – Turkey’, TRT World, September 26, 2019, https://www.trtworld.com/turkey/safe-zone-in-northeast-syria-could-help-millions-turkey-30129
43 ‘Turkey’s military operation in Syria and its impact on relations with the EU’. Briefing, EPRS, 2019, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/EPRS/EPRS-Briefing-642284-Turkeys-military-operation-Syria-FINAL.pdf
44 ‘Turkey’s Erdogan Threatens to Let Refugees into Europe If More Aid Not Given’, RFERL Nov 7, 2019, https://www.rferl.org/a/turkey-erdogan-threatens-to-let-refugees-into-europe-if-more-aid-not-given/30258718.html,
45 Adar, ‘Repatriation to Turkey’s “Safe Zone”.
46 Mahmoud Hamza, ‘Turkey eyes voluntary return for 1 million Syrian refugees, but ‘the problem is bigger than providing housing’, Syria Direct, May 17, 2022, https://syriadirect.org/turkey-eyes-voluntary-return-for-1-million-syrian-refugees-but-the-problem-is-bigger-than-providing-housing/
47 Fehim Tastekin, ‘Erdogan’s plan for the return of Syrian refugees unlikely to succeed’. Al-Monitor, May 9, 2022, https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/05/erdogans-plan-return-syrian-refugees-unlikely-succeed#ixzz7sXIp3CNT
48 Ibid.
49 UN General Assembly ‘Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees’. United Nations, Treaty Series, 1951, vol. 189.
50 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Handbook on Voluntary Repatriation: International Protection (Geneva: UNHCR, 1996).
51 Ibid.
52 Ibid.
53 UN General Assembly, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 10 December 1948, 217 A (III).
54 UNHCR, ‘Handbook - Voluntary Repatriation’
55 InfoMigrants, ‘Why some Syrian refugees return home’, March 16, 2018, Available: https://www.infomigrants.net/fr/post/8118/why-some-syrian-refugees-return-home; Lea Müller-Funk and Sonja Fransen, ‘Return Aspirations and Coerced Return: A Case Study on Syrian Refugees in Turkey and Lebanon’, IMI Working Paper Series 162 (2020), Amsterdam; Seefar, ‘Return, Stay, or Migrate? Understanding the Aspirations of Syrian Refugees in Turkey’, 2017, Available: https://seefar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Syrians-in-Turkey.pdf.
56 InfoMigrants, ‘Why some Syrian refugees return home’, 16 March 2018.
57 UNHCR, Eighth Regional Survey on Syrian Refugees’ Perceptions and Intentions on Return To Syria (May 2023), https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/100851.
58 UNHCR, ‘Handbook - Voluntary Repatriation’
59 Refugee Convention, Article 1 B (1). For Turkey’s reservation, see https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=V-5&chapter=5#EndDec,
60 UNGA, Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 28 July 1951, art. 33(1); Republic of Turkey, Law No. 6458 of 2013 on Foreigners and International Protection, 29 October 2016; Council of Europe, European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, 4 November 1950, Arts. 2, 3; Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 10 December 1984, Art. 3(1).
61 See Turkey: Law No. 6458 of 2013 on Foreigners and International Protection (as amended 29 Oct 2016) [Republic of Turkey], October 29, 2016, https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a1d828f4.html (accessed February 6, 2023).
62 ‘Turkey adopts law to protect foreigners’ rights’, Hürriyet Daily News, April 19, 2013 https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-adopts-law-to-protect-foreigners-rights-45190
63 Izza Leghtas, ‘Insecure Future: Deportations and Lack of Legal Work for Refugees in Turkey’, Refugees International, Sep 19, 2019, https://www.refugeesinternational.org/reports/2019/9/18/insecure-future-deportations-and-lack-of-legal-work-for-refugees-in-turkey#_ftn2
64 Ibid.
65 World Bank, ‘Turkey’. Poverty & Equity Brief-Europe & Central Asia, April 2020, https://databankfiles.worldbank.org/public/ddpext_download/poverty/33EF03BB-9722-4AE2-ABC7-AA2972D68AFE/Global_POVEQ_TUR.pdf
66 Leghtas, ‘Insecure Future’.
67 Lea Müller-Funk and Sonja Fransen, ‘Return Aspirations and Coerced Return: A Case Study on Syrian Refugees in Turkey and Lebanon’, IMI Working Paper Series 162 (2020), Amsterdam.
68 UNHCR, ‘Handbook - Voluntary Repatriation’, sec. 2.4 "Ensuring Return in Safety and with Dignity."
69 Ibid., sec. 3.3 ‘"Organized" and "Spontaneous" Repatriation: Being Prepared.
70 UNHCR, ‘Comprehensive Protection and Solutions Strategy: Protection Thresholds and Parameters for Refugee Return to Syria’, April 22, 2018, https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/63223
71 Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, ‘“No End in Sight”: Torture and ill-treatment in the Syrian Arab Republic 2020-2023’, A/HRC/53/CRP.5, July 10, 2023, Available: https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/no-end-sight-torture-and-ill-treatment-syrian-arab-republic-2020-2023-independent-international-commission-inquiry-syrian-arab-republic-ahrc53crp5-enar.
72 Syria. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/middle-east/n-africa/syria (accessed September 18, 2023).
73 Geir O Pedersen, ‘Worsening Conditions in Syria Need Urgent Concerted Efforts from All Parties to Resume Syrian-led Political Process, Special Envoy Tells Security Council.’, United Nations. SC/15393, August 23, 2023. https://press.un.org/en/2023/sc15393.doc.htm.
74 ‘Erdogan wanted to meet Syria’s Assad - Turkish media’, Reuters, Sep 16, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/erdogan-wanted-meet-syrias-assad-turkish-media-2022-09-16/
75 UNHCR, ‘Protection Thresholds and Parameters for Refugee Return to Syria.
76 Organization of African Unity ‘Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa’, OAU Convention, 1969, 1001 U.N.T.S. 45.
77 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), International Protection Considerations with regard to people fleeing the Syrian Arab Republic, Update V, 3 November 2017,70.
78 Amnesty International, ‘Sent to a War Zone Turkey’s Illegal Deportations of Syrian Refugees’, March 14, 2019 https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/EUR4411022019ENGLISH.pdf
79 ‘Turkey: Hundreds of Refugees Deported to Syria’, Human Rights Watch, October 24, 2022 https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/10/24/turkey-hundreds-refugees-deported-syria
80 Organization of African Unity ‘Convention, 1969.
81 Jeff Crisp, ‘Repatriation principles under pressure’. Forced Migration Review, October 2019, FMR 62 https://www.fmreview.org/return/crisp, 20.
82 Bhupinder S. Chimni, ‘From resettlement to involuntary repatriation: towards a critical history of durable solutions to refugee problems’. Refugee Survey Quarterly 23, no. 3 (2004):55–73,68.
83 Bhupinder S. Chimni, ‘The geopolitics of refugee studies: A view from the South’, Journal of Refugee Studies 11, no. 4 (1998): 350–74, 352.
84 Guy S. Goodwin-Gill, ‘International law and human rights: Trends concerning international migrants and refugees’, International Migration Review 23, no. 3 (1989): 526–46, 545-46.
85 Goodwin-Gill, ‘International law and human rights’,545–46.
86 James C. Hathaway, ‘Temporary Protection of Refugees: Threat or Solution?’, in Perspective on Refugee Protection in South Africa, ed. J. Handmaker et al. (Pretoria, South Africa: Lawyers for Human Rights, 2001) 41–9, 43.
87 Chimni, ‘The geopolitics of refugee studies’, 352.
88 Hélène Lambert, ‘International refugee law: dominant and emerging approaches’, in Routledge Handbook of International Law (2009): 344–54.
89 Rosalyn Higgins, Problems and Process: International Law and How We Use It (Oxford University Press, 1994), 2–3.
90 Eisuke Suzuki, ‘The New Haven School of International Law: An Invitation to a Policy-Oriented Jurisprudence’, Yale J. World Pub. Ord. 1, 30 (1974).
91 Martti Koskenniemi, The Politics of International Law (Oxford and Portland, Oregon, 2011), 41.
92 Myres S. McDougal and Harold D. Lasswell, Jurisprudence for a Free Society: Studies in Law, Science, and Policy (New Haven: New Haven Press, 1992).
93 W. Michael Reisman, ‘The Cult of Custom in the Late 20th Century’, California Western International Law Journal 17 (1987): 133.
94 Myres S. McDougal and Harold D. Lasswell, ‘In Dedication to Dean Dillard: Man of Depth and Style: Foreword’, Virginia Law Review 54, no. 4 (1968): 586, JSTOR, quoting A. Dillard, ‘Conflict and Change: The Role of Law’, American Society of International Law Proceedings 50 (1963): 62.
95 Lung-chu Chen, An Introduction to Contemporary International Law: A Policy-Oriented Perspective, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015).
96 Rosemary Byrne and Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen, ‘International Refugee Law between Scholarship and Practice,’ International Journal of Refugee Law 32, no. 2 (2020): 181–99.
97 Kofi Annan, ‘Two concepts of sovereignty’, United Nation Secretary-General, September 18, 1999, https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/articles/1999-09-18/two-concepts-sovereignty.
98 International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, Evans, and Sahnoun, The Responsibility to Protect.
99 UN General Assembly, 2005 World Summit Outcome: resolution / adopted by the General Assembly, 24 October 2005, A/RES/60/1.
100 UN General Assembly, Implementing the responsibility to protect : report of the Secretary-General, 12 January 2009, A/63/677.
101 Alex J. Bellamy, ‘The responsibility to protect – five years on’, Ethics & International Affairs 24, no. 2 (2010): 143–69,144.
102 Nicholas J. Wheeler, ‘A Victory for Common Humanity-The Responsibility to Protect after the 2005 World Summit’, J. Int’l L & Int’l Rel. 2 (2005): 95,102–3,103.
103 Zheng Chen And Hang Yin,’China and Russia in R2P debates at the UN Security Council’, International Affairs, 96, no. 3 (2020): 5.
104 Ibid, 6–7.
105 Luke Glanville, ‘Does R2P Matter? Interpreting the Impact of a Norm’, Cooperation and Conflict 51, no. 2 (2016): 8.
106 James Pattison, ‘Mapping the Responsibilities to Protect: A Typology of International Duties’, Global Responsibility to Protect 7, no. 2 (2015):190–210, 208.
107 Fernando R. Tesón, ‘The Vexing Problem of Authority in Humanitarian Intervention: A Proposal’, Wisconsin International Law Journal 24, no. 3 (2006): 761–72, 762.
108 Andrew S. Thompson, ‘Review of ‘The Global Commonwealth Of Citizens: Toward Cosmopolitan Democracy’, by D. Archibugi, International Journal 65, no. 4 (2010): 1076–8.
109 Catherine Goetze, ‘The Responsibility to Protect, Rhetoric, Reality and the Future of Humanitarian Intervention’. International Peacekeeping 20, no. 3 (2013):396–7, 397.
110 Heather Roff, Global Justice, Kant and the Responsibility to Protect: A Provisional Duty, 1st ed. (London: Routledge, 2013).
111 W. Michael Reisman, The View from the New Haven School of International Law, 86 Am. Soc’y Int’l L. Proc. 118, 120 (1992), quoted in Molly Land, Reflection on the new Haven School, 46 N.Y.L. Sch. L. Rev. 3-4, 921.
112 Chen, ‘An Introduction to Contemporary International Law’, 14-15.
113 ICISS, 20.
114 Karen Smith, ‘A Reflection on the Responsibility to Protect’, Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, August 17, 2020, https://reliefweb.int/report/world/reflection-responsibility-protect-2020
115 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Address by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 67th United Nations General Assembly, September 28, 2012, New York, https://www.mfa.gov.tr/address-by-mr_-ahmet-davutoglu_-minister-of-foreign-affairs-of-turkey-at-the-67th-united-nations-general-assembly_-28-september.en.mfa
116 Reuters, ‘Around 800 Syrians return from Turkey weekly, U.N. refugee agency official says’, June 21, 2022 https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/around-800-syrians-return-turkey-weekly-un-refugee-agency-official-2022-06-21/
117 Middle East Monitor ‘Assad regime condemns Turkey plan to settle refugees in Syria safe zone’, May 22, 2022 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220522-assad-regime-condemns-turkey-plan-to-settle-refugees-in-syria-safe-zone/
118 UNHCR, ‘Comprehensive Protection and Solutions Strategy: Protection Thresholds and Parameters for Refugee Return to Syria’, April 22, 2018, https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/63223
119 See National Legislative Bodies / National Authorities, Turkey: Temporary Protection Regulation, October 22, 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56572fd74.html (accessed February 7, 2023).
120 Laura Batalla and Juliette Tolay, J, ‘Toward long-term solidarity with Syrian refugees? Turkey’s policy response and challenges’, Atlantic Council, September (2018):15, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Toward_Long-Term_Solidarity_with_Syrian_Refugees_web_final_update_101118.pdf
121 Leghtas, ‘Insecure Future’.
122 Batalla and Tolay, J, ‘Toward long-term solidarity with Syrian refugees? 16.
123 ‘Turkey: Hundreds of Refugees Deported to Syria’, Human Rights Watch, October 24, 2022 https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/10/24/turkey-hundreds-refugees-deported-syria
124 Ibid.
125 ICISS, 23.
126 Mustafa Gurbuz, ‘How Realistic Is an Erdoğan-Assad Rapprochement?’, Arab Center Washington DC, Dec 28, 2022, https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/how-realistic-is-an-erdogan-assad-rapprochement/
127 Umut Uras, ‘Erdogan says he may meet Syria’s Assad for ‘peace’ in the region’, Aljazeera, January 5, 2023, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/5/syria-348
128 Gurbuz, ‘How Realistic Is an Erdoğan-Assad Rapprochement?’, 2022.
129 Middle East Monitor, ‘Turkey, Jordan agree to cooperate in the voluntary return of Syria refugees,’ 2 March 2022, https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220302-turkey-jordan-agree-to-cooperate-in-the-voluntary-return-of-syria-refugees/
130 France 24, ‘Return of Syrian refugees ‘top priority’ in Arab summit: statement,’ May 1, 2023. https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230501-return-of-syrian-refugees-top-priority-in-arab-summit-statement
131 The New Arab, ‘Arab League ‘suspends meetings’ with Syrian regime,’ September 27, 2023, https://www.newarab.com/news/arab-league-suspends-meetings-syrian-regime
132 UN General Assembly, 2005 World Summit Outcome, A/RES/60/1.
133 UN General Assembly, Implementing the responsibility to protect, A/63/677, 9.
134 World Summit Outcome, A/RES/60/1, 29.
135 Global Compact on Refugees, ‘Annual Report to United Nations General Assembly’, in UNHCR, UN Doc. A/73/12, 2018.
136 Global Compact on Refugees, para.7.
137 Volker Turk, ‘The Promise and Potential of the Global Compact on Refugees’. International Journal of Refugee Law 30, no. 4 (2019): 575–83, 580.
138 Jack I. Garvey, ‘Toward a reformulation of international refugee law’, Harv. Int’l. LJ 26 (1985): 483–9.
139 UN Doc. E/CN.4/1993/35 para 151, https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G93/105/95/PDF/G9310595.pdf?OpenElement
140 Myron Weiner, Security, Stability and International Migration, Centre For International Studies, (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 1990), 38.
141 Aljazeera. ‘Russia, Syria, Turkey and Iran hold high-level talks in Moscow,’ May 10, 2023, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/10/russia-syria-turkey-and-iran-hold-high-level-talks-in-moscow.
142 Anadolu Agency (AA). ‘Türkiye creating infrastructure for voluntary return of Syrian refugees: President Erdogan,’ May 25, 2023, https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/turkiye-creating-infrastructure-for-voluntary-return-of-syrian-refugees-president-erdogan/2906013.
143 Rebecca Barber, ‘The Powers of The Un General Assembly to Prevent and Respond to Atrocity Crimes: A Guidance Document’, Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, April 2021, https://r2pasiapacific.org/files/7091/2021_UNGA_GuidanceDocument4.pdf, 20.
144 Global Compact on Refugees, (part iii), para 7.
145 European Commission, ‘EU continues supporting education of refugees and addressing migration in Turkey with additional €560 million’, December 21, 2021, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_21_6931
146 See the report, UNHCR Türkiye - Bi-annual Fact Sheet February 2023.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Elif Yazıcı Başar
Elif Yazıcı Başar is a PhD candidate in International Relations at Eastern Mediterranean University, having earned both her BA and MA in International Relations from Cyprus International University. She currently serves as a part-time lecturer at Bahçeşehir Cyprus University. Her primary research interests encompass international refugee law, R2P and policy-oriented approaches to international law.