Syrian refugees in Turkey: multifaceted challenges, diverse players and ambiguous policies

Abstract

Turkey is rapidly transforming into a country of immigration in addition to its roles as a country of emigration and of transit. Bearing in mind that existing arrangements in this policy area are increasingly replaced by new legal, administrative and institutional mechanisms, this paper aims to map out these recent changes in Turkish refugee and asylum policy. In this context, the mass influx of Syrian refugees has become an issue of particular concern due to the complex interplay between its security, humanitarian and socio-economic dimensions and the multifaceted relationship between the growing number of state and non-state institutions. The numerous reports, policy briefs and analysis generated so far, however, lack a clear analytical framework that would explain both the domestic contestation and the role of various actors in Turkish asylum debate about the Syrian refugees. This paper thus examines different perspectives and approaches of the Turkish state, local and national NGOs and international organizations regarding the policies addressing Syrian refugees in Turkey. ‬

Notes

1. There are many other state actors involved in this multi-layered policy-making process, including the Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of EU Affairs, Ministry of Development, Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Family and Social Policies and the relevant local authorities. Recently, a new unit called ‘Consultancy on Migration and Humanitarian Aid’ under the Prime Ministry has been established to maintain a centralized coordination among these actors.

2. Law on Settlement, No. 2510, 14 June 1934, Official Journal No. 2733. The new Law on Settlement (No. 5543, adopted on 19 September 2006) preserves this admission policy; however, it only refers to the admission and settlement of migrants, not refugees.

3. For reservations and ratification status of the Convention and its Protocol, see the UN Treaty Collection Database, Available at

https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=V-5&chapter=5&lang=en#EndDec (accessed 7 April 2016).

4. The new law differentiates between refugee status (Article 63), conditional refugee status (Article 64) and subsidiary protection (Article 65). See the Law on Foreigners and International Protection, No. 6458/2013,

Available at http://www.refworld.org/docid/5167fbb20.html (accessed 7 April 2016).

5. Interviewees were given the option to remain anonymous, being cited only by their organization, and being cited with their full name and organization. In each case, we respected the research participants’ preference. Since most of the local NGO representatives asked for anonymity, we would like to add a few points on their diverse profile for methodological clarification. Local NGOs that participated in this study include faith-based NGOs, humanitarian NGOs, Syrian NGOs in Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Hatay and Adana. While some of these NGOs are local representatives or partners of national NGOs that operate in different cities, some were founded by the host communities (some also include Syrian refugees) or solely by Syrian refugees. These local actors mostly emerged as a non-state humanitarian response to the Syrian refugee influx. Faith-based NGOs within this context mainly refer to associations that consider their humanitarian efforts for refugees as an obligation of belonging to Islamic faith. Nevertheless, most of the research participants from these NGOs have emphasized that they provide assistance to Syrian refugees regardless of their religious/ethnic/political background. The interviews are conducted by the authors in continuous fieldwork between 2013 and 2015, which, we believe, helps to reflect rapidly changing dynamics of the refugee debate in Turkey.

6. We thank one of the reviewers for reminding us of this point.

7. For the scope of temporary protection within the EU law, see, EU Council Directive No. 2001/55/EC, 20 July 2001.

8. Article 91 of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection (see note 4).

9. Author interview: Rights-based NGO representative, Ankara (March 2013).

10. Author interview: Official from the Turkish EU Ministry, Ankara (April 2013).

11. Author interview: Official from the MoI, Ankara (April 2013).

12. Author interview: Ankara (April 2013).

13. Also see note 2.

14. Author interview: Ankara (April 2013).

15. Directive No. 62 on ‘Receiving and Sheltering the Syrian Arab Republic Citizens and Stateless Persons Living in the Syrian Arab Republic, Who Entered Turkey for the Purpose of Mass Sanctuary’, 30 March 2012.

16. Author interview: Ankara (March 2014).

17. In January 2016, the Turkish government adopted an additional regulation to facilitate Syrians’ access to the labour market under certain conditions. See Regulation on Work Permit of Refugees Under Temporary Protection, Available at http://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/MevzuatMetin/3.5.20168375.pdf (accessed 7 April 2016).

18. See the discussions in: Parliamentary Meeting 24/43, 20 December 2011; Parliamentary Meeting 24/65, 14 February 2012; Parliamentary Meeting 24/86, 30 March 2012.

19. Contrary to the efforts to ease the public tension, however, such acts as President Erdogan’s first domestic visit upon his election to a refugee camp in Gaziantep in October 2014 continued to raise suspicions and doubts among the public about the role of the refugees in the government’s agenda (see Karakuş, 2014).

20. See the discussions in: Parliamentary Meeting 24/92, 10 April 2012.

21. Author interview: Official from the provincial administration, Şanlıurfa (May 2015).

22. Author interview: Istanbul (July 2015).

23. Yet the Turkish authorities emphasized that it is not a reversal of Turkey’s open-border policy and the borders are open for those who need urgent medical assistance.

24. Author interview: Syrian NGO representatives and local authorities, Gaziantep and Adana (December 2015).

25. Author interviews, Ankara (April 2013).

26. Since the beginning of 2016, academics no longer require this permission.

27. Author interview: AFAD officials, Ankara (July 2015). One of the authors of this paper got permission from AFAD to film a documentary on the daily lives of refugees inside the camps, funded by the European Delegation of Turkey and embassy of Sweden.

28. To minimize these problems, AFAD established a nationwide database registering all international and national agencies working in the humanitarian aid field. Author interview: AFAD officials, Ankara (July 2015).

29. Author interviews: UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF representatives, Istanbul, Gaziantep (June‒August 2015).

30. Some of these include the Danish Refugee Council, International Medical Corps, Mercy Corps, Save the Children International, International Rescue Committee, Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

31. To give an example, MSF’s legal registration process in Turkey took eight years.

32. Author interviews: Local International Refugee Rights Association representative, Istanbul (January 2015); local humanitarian NGO representatives, Gaziantep and Hatay (August 2015).

33. Author interview: Gaziantep (August 2015).

34. Author interview: Hatay (August 2015).

35. Author interview: International NGO representative, Gaziantep (August 2015).

36. Author interview: Rights-based NGO representative, Adana (December 2014).

37. Author interview: Joint Syrian‒Turkish humanitarian local NGO representative, Şanlıurfa (July 2015).