This policy brief is based on a conversation with Zaid Hydari, co-founder and executive director of the Refugee Solidarity Network — an organization that supports the provision of pro-bono legal services to refugees seeking asylum in Türkiye and training opportunities for lawyers to expand the supply of legal assistance.[1]
Introduction
Türkiye’s location at the crossroads between the Middle East, Asia, and Europe makes it an important transit and destination country for migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees from all over the world. It is also hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees — more than 3 million people.
The government of Türkiye used to have a hands-off response to migration, ceding significant control over refugees to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). However, that approach changed in 2014 when the Turkish Parliament passed its first comprehensive legislation on migration and asylum — the Law on Foreigners and International Protection (LFIP), which was modeled on European Union (EU) legislation and drafted in consultation with Turkish civil society groups. In 2018, the UNHCR transferred all responsibility for the processing of asylum applications for international protection to the Turkish government.
This policy brief explores ways to enhance legal safeguards for refugees in Türkiye and bolster institutional capacity to support them, by focusing on four key areas:
- An overview of migration to Türkiye.
- The protection landscape for refugees.
- The implementation of the new asylum system.
- Further building Türkiye’s nascent asylum system.
Migration to Türkiye: An Overview
Although Türkiye is frequently considered a country of emigration, it also has a long history as a country of immigration. From the 18th to 20th centuries, most immigrants were Muslims from lands that had been conquered by the Ottoman empire. After the end of the Cold War, Türkiye began receiving migrants from neighboring countries in the Middle East as well as Eastern Europe, Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa.[2]
It was not until the 2010s that Türkiye became one of the largest host countries for refugees in the world: Syrians began to flee their country following the popular uprising and subsequent civil war in 2011. At first, the Turkish government pursued an open-door policy, allowing all Syrians to enter the country and obtain “temporary protection” status — in Türkiye refugee status is reserved only for individuals fleeing European countries.[3] Before the onset of the Syrian conflict, Syrian nationals were able to enter Türkiye without a visa. This continued until 2015, when it became clear that the presence of Syrians escaping the civil war would not be short-term.[4] From Jan. 1, 2015 onward, Syrians have only been able to remain in Türkiye for a maximum of 90 days without a residence permit unless they have received temporary protection status.
As the conflict persisted, Syrians continued to seek refuge in Türkiye, leading to growing tensions around their presence, which reached a climax with their politicization during the 2023 presidential elections.[5]
Figure 1 — Numbers of Syrians Under Temporary Protection in Türkiye by Year
Source: Presidency of Migration Management (PMM).
By mid-2023, the country was hosting an estimated 3.6 million refugees and asylum-seekers of varying nationalities, according to the UNHCR. This estimate includes around 3.3 million Syrian nationals who are under the temporary protection program (Figure 1), and close to 300,000 individuals under international protection — primarily from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran.[6]
A relatively small number have been able to leave Türkiye and resettle elsewhere. In the aftermath of the earthquakes that devastated Türkiye and Syria in February 2023, several thousand refugees have relocated and applied for resettlement consideration with the UNHCR, but this figure represents a tiny fraction of Türkiye’s overall refugee population.[7]
The Protection Landscape for Refugees
As noted above, before the LFIP went into effect in 2014, Türkiye lacked comprehensive laws on migration and asylum. The new legislation aimed to remedy this by including:
- Temporary protections for Syrian nationals.
- The establishment of a new government agency, the Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM) — which later became the Presidency of Migration Management (PMM).
- Other provisions regarding residence permits.
The LFIP shifted Türkiye’s migration system from one dominated by a security paradigm to a more rights-focused approach and is considered by many to be landmark legislation.[8]
Currently, there are two main avenues for refugees in Türkiye: international protection and temporary protection.
- International protection is available for non-European nationals and those who are not under or not eligible for temporary protection. Full refugee status is only available to individuals originating from European countries, since Türkiye never removed the geographical limitations to the 1951 Refugee Convention.
- Temporary protection was introduced in October 2011 in response to the arrival of Syrians but was not formally established until Article 91 of the LFIP was passed in April 2013, as well as secondary legislation, the Temporary Protection Regulation (TPR), adopted in October 2014.[9]
The TPR regime applies to Syrian nationals, stateless people, and refugees coming to Türkiye from Syria, and gives them the right to work and access to a variety of services such as health care and education.[10] In practice, however, Syrian refugees are not always able to enjoy these rights — there have been reports of refugee children being barred from schools and adults having difficulty obtaining work permits, which are issued by the Turkish government.[11]
Even after the adoption of the Regulation on Work Permits for Foreigners under Temporary Protection in 2016, obtaining work permits remains a challenge for refugees. As a result, many work in the informal economy instead. The actual number of work permits granted to Syrians is unclear and estimates differ depending on the source, ranging from a total of 286,483 as of 2023 to the mention of 100,000 permits per year.[12] Even the highest estimates indicate that the number of permits falls far short in comparison to the population of Syrians residing in Türkiye, which stands at 3.3 million.
Before the arrival of Syrian refugees and the LFIP, Türkiye operated a dual system of protection that required asylum seekers to both register with the UNHCR for international protection, and also to file a separate temporary asylum application with the Turkish Ministry of the Interior (the DGMM after 2014).[13] In September 2018, the UNHCR handed over all responsibility for processing asylum applications and refugee registration to the Turkish government, specifically to the agency responsible for migration and asylum — the PMM.[14] Regardless of nationality, any individuals seeking international protection must now go to the Provincial Directorates of Migration Management (PDMM) after entering the country.
Implementing the New Asylum System
The changes in Turkish migration and asylum law in the last decade have created the need for lawyers to further develop their knowledge and skills. Legislation can only be successful if lawyers are qualified to navigate the legal complexities of refugee treatment and advocate for vulnerable populations. To bridge this gap, Refugee Solidarity Network (RSN) and Refugee Rights Turkey (RRT), two civil society organizations, have implemented a series of projects in Türkiye that offer training and resource opportunities for Turkish lawyers, such as an online platform with a self-study module and a database of past judgments issued by Turkish courts and the European Court of Human Rights. Although RRT also provides legal services free of charge (in part through partnership with RSN), it has not sought to be a mass service provider. Instead, its mandates include training and fostering a community of lawyers who can provide legal services to asylum seekers and refugees.
Under Turkish law, both citizens and noncitizens who are unable to pay for a lawyer — including foreign nationals subject to asylum and immigration procedures — can access the state-funded legal aid system and obtain free legal assistance.[15] However, effective access to the system for foreign nationals, asylum seekers, and refugees faces many challenges, including:
- Funding — Turkish lawyers will not be incentivized to join the system unless they are compensated for their time and effort.
- Awareness — refugees and migrant communities do not always know about their right to this legal aid.
- Interpretation — the absence of permanent interpretation assistance also raises barriers.[16]
RSN and RRT have tried to address these challenges by engaging with bar associations and other stakeholders on systemic issues, conducting awareness campaigns about the new legislation in numerous languages, and through making legal information available to refugees, trying to ensure that they know their rights.
Despite the difficulties, progress has been made regarding the interpretation of asylum and refugee legal principles in Türkiye, and several recent judgments in favor of refugees show a degree of maturity on the part of the Turkish judiciary. For example, a deportation order for an Afghan woman who had been unable to apply for asylum was overturned once the court considered that her country of origin had not been taken into account when the order was initially issued.[17] As in other countries, when refugees have access to lawyers who understand how to navigate the legal system, there is a greater potential for fair and equitable interpretation and application of the law.
Recommendations: Further Building Türkiye’s Nascent Asylum System
To ensure continued improvements in the development of Türkiye’s nascent asylum system, while safeguarding the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, policymakers and the international community need to address three important issues:
- Continued investment in asylum capacity. While further funding of the government agencies responsible for processing asylum claims is needed, funding the administration alone is not enough. The international community should also support legal assistance providers and civil society organizations — which often provide direct services to migrants and refugees, as well as advocating for their rights — ensuring that critical checks are in place so that the asylum system as a whole can function fairly and efficiently.
- Greater international responsibility sharing. Türkiye with a national population of around 80 million, hosts nearly 4 million individuals in need of protection and faces an increasingly fragile economic situation that worsened following the earthquakes of February 2023.[18] If the international community expects Türkiye to continue hosting large numbers of refugees, there must be a genuine effort to share responsibility. This means increasing and expediting the resettlement of refugees who are currently in Türkiye, as well as expanding complementary migration pathways.
Responsibility sharing includes ensuring sustained funding. Since 2011, the EU has provided nearly 10 billion euros to support Türkiye in hosting refugees.[19] However, the payments made by the EU are provided on an ad hoc basis. Committing to annual aid would facilitate the ongoing expansion of the asylum system. On a similar note, only 39% of the United Nations’ 2022 funding appeal for the region was met. With the needs of refugees increasing and funding decreasing annually,[20] it is difficult for Türkiye to provide legal protection to all asylum seekers and refugees that arrive on its territory.
- Honest discussions and knowledge exchanges at the policy level. To inform and improve refugee protection in emerging host countries, those working on the issues of migration and asylum should provide forums for governments and other key stakeholders from across the Global North and South to engage in discussions and exchange experiences. Addressing complex and contentious topics — such as how to identify those who are in clear need of protection, versus those who migrate for economic reasons, or how to deal with the issue of voluntary return — is necessary to advance strategies for common challenges.
Notes
[1] We use “Türkiye,” the country’s preferred name, throughout the body text. Turkey’s official name, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti — referred to in English as the Republic of Turkey or by the commonly used shorter form, Turkey — was adopted upon the declaration of the republic on Oct. 29, 1923. In 2022, the Turkish government requested that the country be called by its Turkish name, and the United Nations agreed to register Türkiye as the country’s official name (Peter Kenyon, "Turkey Changes Its Official Name to Türkiye," NPR, June 3, 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/06/03/1102841197/turkey-changes-its-official-name-to-turkiye).
[2] Kelsey Norman, Reluctant Reception: Refugees, Migration and Governance in the Middle East and North Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020), https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108900119.
[3] Alan Makovsky, “Turkey’s Refugee Dilemma: Tiptoeing Toward Integration,” Center for American Progress, March 13, 2019, https://www.americanprogress.org/article/turkeys-refugee-dilemma/.
[4] Norman, “Access to Legal Residency for Refugees in the Middle East: Bureaucracy, Deterrence, and Prolonged Impermanence,” Middle East Institute, December 6, 2016, https://www.mei.edu/publications/access-legal-residency-refugees-middle-east-bureaucracy-deterrence-and-prolonged.
[5] “Temporary Protection,” Presidency of Migration Management (PMM), last updated January 2, 2024, https://www.goc.gov.tr/gecici-koruma5638.
[6] United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), “Türkiye Fact Sheet,” September 2023, https://www.unhcr.org/tr/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2023/10/bi-annual-fact-sheet-2023-09-turkiyeF.pdf.
[7] UNHCR, “Türkiye: Operational Update,” June 2023, https://reporting.unhcr.org/t%C3%BCrkiye-operational-update-5309.
[8] Norman, Reluctant Reception.
[9] Makovsky, “Turkey’s Refugee Dilemma.”
[10] “Temporary Protection in Türkiye,” UNHCR Türkiye, accessed November 22, 2023, https://help.unhcr.org/turkiye/information-for-syrians/temporary-protection-in-turkey/.
[11] Ayhan Kaya, “The World’s Leading Refugee Host, Turkey Has a Complex Migration History,” Migration Policy Institute, November 1, 2023, https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/turkey-migration-history.
[12] “Türkiye Country Chapter 2023–2025,” in 3RP: Regional Refugee & Resilience Plan, 3RP Syria Crisis, accessed November 22, 2023. https://www.3rpsyriacrisis.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/3RP-2023-2025-Turkiye-Country-Chapter_EN.pdf; Semih Tumen, “The Case of Syrian Refugees in Türkiye: Successes, Challenges, and Lessons Learned,” Background Paper to the World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees, and Societies, April 2023, https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/a007833298df4b9c3735602711dd9289-0050062023/original/WDR2023-Turkey-case-study-FORMATTED.pdf.
[13] Norman, Reluctant Reception.
[14] “Introduction to the Asylum Context in Türkiye,” Asylum Information Database: European Council on Refugees and Exiles, last updated July 17, 2023, https://asylumineurope.org/reports/country/turkiye/introduction-asylum-context-turkiye/; “Registration and RSD with UNHCR,” UNHCR Türkiye, accessed November 23, 2023, https://help.unhcr.org/turkiye/information-for-non-syrians/registration-rsd-with-unhcr/.
[15] Refugee Solidarity Network, The Potentials of Pro Bono Partnerships in Turkey for Securing Refugees’ Access to Rights, November 2019, https://refugeesolidaritynetwork.org/reports/the-potentials-of-pro-bono-partnerships-in-turkey-for-securing-refugees-access-to-rights/.
[16] Refugee Rights Turkey (RRT) and Refugee Solidarity Network (RSN), Access to State-Funded Legal Aid Services by Asylum-Seekers and Migrants in Turkey: Challenges and Opportunities, January 2019, https://refugeesolidaritynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Adli-Yard%C4%B1m-Raporu_I%CC%87ngilizce_Bask%C4%B1.pdf.
[17] A repository of over 70 such positive judgments can be found on the Refugee Rights Information Platform at https://multecihukuku.net/ictihat-veritabani/.
[18] World Bank, “The World Bank in Türkiye,” last updated October 9, 2023, https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/turkey/overview#1.
[19] “EU Support to Refugees in Türkiye,” European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), accessed December 1, 2023, https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/enlargement-policy/turkiye/eu-support-refugees-turkiye_en.
[20] Alice Hickson and Calvin Wilder, “Protecting Syrian Refugees in Turkey from Forced Repatriation,” New Lines Institute, May 16, 2023, https://newlinesinstitute.org/displacement-and-migration/protecting-syrian-refugees-in-turkey-from-forced-repatriation/.
This material may be quoted or reproduced without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given to the author and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. The views expressed herein are those of the individual author(s), and do not necessarily represent the views of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
