Public service provision for Syrian refugees in Turkey: challenges and prospects

ABSTRACT

Refugee crises are among the most heartrending and vexatious humanitarian issues since the beginning of civilization. These crises are particularly evident in the case of Syria, where, since 2011, civil war and terrorism have led millions of people to seek refugee status in neighbouring countries, including Turkey. Since 2011, Turkey has pursued an open-door policy accompanied by a national temporary protection regime to protect more than four million Syrians fleeing the civil war. As a corollary, government institutions (the public service) in Turkey have the responsibility of providing essential services, including education and health. Against this backdrop, this study aims to examine and analyse the opportunities and challenges Turkey is currently facing in accommodating the Syrian refugees from the perspectives of Syrian migrants living in Turkey. This research employed the qualitative research approaches, which adopted in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and documentary reviews as the data collection instruments. The findings revealed that the Government of Turkey is being overstretched by the refugee crisis, and this has affected the quality of public service provisions. Consequently, this study is a rare attempt to examine the impact of the Syrian Refugee crisis on the public service provision of Turkey.

KEYWORDS:

• Public Service
• Service Quality
• Refugee Crisis
• Syrian Refugees
• Turkey
• Humanitarian Assistance‌

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Emrah Atar

Emrah Atar Emrah Atar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Recep Tayyip Erdogan University. He holds an MSc in Public Administration from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2017 and a PhD in Development Policy and Management from the University of Manchester in 2020, where his doctoral and master’s research theses were funded by the Republic of Turkey. His focus topics and research interests are politics, governance, migration, policy development and management, urban politics, urbanization and environmental problems and policies. Emrah is also an interview editor of the Political Reflection Magazine, and Commissioning Editor of the E-International Relations..

Farhad Hossain

Farhad Hossain is a Reader at the Global Development Institute (GDI), School of Environment, Education and Development at the University of Manchester where he directs the MSc Programme in Human Resource Management (International Development). He holds a PhD in Administrative Science and carried out research in a number of countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. From 2009 to 2012 he worked as Executive Editor of the International Journal of Public Administration. He has edited a number of special issues in journals and edited books by Routledge. His current research interests include public policy and management, development administration, local governance and decentralization, organizational behaviour, and institutional and policy aspects of development NGOs and microfinance institutions (MFIs).

Anthony Sumnaya Kumasey

Anthony Sumnaya Kumasey is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Professional Studies, Accra, Ghana where he researches and teaches in the areas of Business and Management. Anthony holds a PhD in Development Policy and Management from the University of Manchester, UK. He has extensively published in journals of international repute including International Review of Administrative Sciences, Development Policy Review and International Journal of Public Sector Management. Anthony has both administrative and academic experience in a number of UK and Ghanaian universities. His current research interests include administrative ethics, CSR, development management, public administration, organizational behaviour and organizational change and development.