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REFUGEE-ASYLUM SEEKER POLICY OF TURKEY IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

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Page 1: REFUGEE-ASYLUM SEEKER POLICY OF TURKEY IN THE LIGHT OF ... · REFUGEE-ASYLUM SEEKER POLICY OF TURKEY IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS. The Journalists and Writers Foundation Press:

REFUGEE-ASYLUM SEEKER POLICY OF TURKEYIN THE LIGHT OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Page 2: REFUGEE-ASYLUM SEEKER POLICY OF TURKEY IN THE LIGHT OF ... · REFUGEE-ASYLUM SEEKER POLICY OF TURKEY IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS. The Journalists and Writers Foundation Press:

The Journalists and Writers Foundation Press: 38ISBN: 978-975-6714-46-1

The views presented are those of authors and do not reflect or represent the views of the editors or the Journalists and Writers Foundation

All rights reserved. Copyright JWF.

No parts of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form or by any means.

Editors: Engin Akçay and Farkhad Alimukhamedov

Project Editor: Ferin Merve Yılmaz

Text and Cover Designer: Fokus Ajans

Date of publishing: 2013

Limited edition

www.gyvkadinplatformu.org | www.gyv.org.tr

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REFUGEE-ASYLUM SEEKER POLICY

OF TURKEYIN THE LIGHT OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

APRIL 25, 2013 - ANKARA

WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS

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Contents

Editors’ Note ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Opening Speech .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

SECTION I

Turkey’s Refugee Policy from International Perspectives

Turkey’s Policy on Refugee-Asylum Seekers: Current Practices ...................................................... 13EsEn Altuğ

The UN Refugee Agency’s Focused Studies on Turkey and the Latest Update .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17CarOl BaTChElOr

Trends in Migration Management: The Case of Turkey ........................................................................................................ 23MEEra SEThI

Turkey’s Refugee Policy and Practices from the Civil Society Perspective ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 29OkTay DurukaN

SECTION II

Turkey’s Position and its Practices Pertaining to Syrians in Turkey

Fellow’s Hand Reaches to the Neighbor: Syria ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 39TuraN ErkOç

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Syrian Crisis from the European Union Perspective ............................................................................................................................. 45FraNçOIS NauCODIE

Types of International Protection and the Legal Status of the Syrians in Turkey ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 51Prof. nurAy EKŞİ, PhD

The Aid Activities of Kimse Yok Mu Association with Regards to Syrian Refugees .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 71CElAl türKoğlu

SECTION III

The New Legislation: Law on Foreigners and

International ProtectionThe Role of Civil Society in the Field of Asylum, Situation in the Satellite Cities and Syrian Refugees in Turkey ........................................................ 81TaNEr kIlIç

The Country Embracing the Refugees the Most: Turkey ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 93NEvval SEvINDI

Law on Foreigners and International Protection .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 101MEhMET METINEr

Final Declaration ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 111

Speakers .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 113

Images ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 117

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7

Editors’ Note

The history of migration is parallel to the history of mankind... The process of migration, regardless of its causes, can be resumed as a ‘search for something better’. Turkey being at the crossroads of civilizations, its geographical location is crucial for migration routes and targets. Today, migration is a global phenomenon and its axis is moving eastwards from the West.

The issue of migration in the Turkish context during the past times was mainly understood as migration to Europe. Yet, as it is often stressed today, Turkey is not only a transit, but also a target country for migrants. Throughout several years Tur-key accepted refugees coming from East and West with extreme hospitality. Even though Turkish nuances of the term refugee/asylum-seeker (sığınmacı and mülteci) deriving from the political stance of the country have been criticized by the west-ern sources, the country’s sui generis location has also complicated handling the issue. Since the acceleration of forced migration movements due to the so-called Arab Awakening, undoubtedly a complex situation has been brought up for the country’s decision-makers. The workshop entitled “Refugee-Asylum Seeker Policy of Turkey in the Light of Recent Developments” organized by The Women Plat-form of the Journalists and Writers Foundation on the 25th April 2013 in Ankara has a particular importance also due to its timing. This event was organized just a short time after the adoption of the Law on Foreigners and International Protec-tion, which was a fruitful basis for a better evaluation of some aspects of the law related to its application. Another asset of the workshop was the ability to rally all the interested bodies incuding international organizations, academicians, govern-ment agencies, and civil society organizations.

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The outcomes of the workshop, where our recommendations on the structuring of the event and selection of the topics were taken into account, are to be found in the present publication. The book, in which we took part as editors, is published in English and Turkish. Its objectives would be reached if public awareness both in Turkey and on international platforms could be attained. Stressing our gratitude to all panelists we note that it has been unfeasible to give an academic design to the transcribed texts. From this stance, only the speakers’ papers have been selected; the moderators’ and discussants’ presentations are therefore omissed. However, the Final Declaration, drawn up by every participant to the workshop reflects all their contributions. Within this framework, along with the speakers of the workshop we would like to express our gratitude to the moderators: Associate Professor Dr. Mah-mut Akpınar, Professor Dr. Cengiz Başak, Professor Dr. Ahmet Nuri Yurdusev; and discussants: Yahya Munis, Assistant Professor Dr. Zeynep Şahin Mencütek.

Wishing a better world for humanity,

Engin Akçay Farkhad Alimukhamedov

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Opening Speech

Good morning to you all. I welcome you to the workshop on the “Refugee-Asy-lum Seeker Policy of Turkey in the Light of Recent Developments” organized by the Women’s Platform of the Journalists and Writers Foundation ( JWF).

Since the day it was established, JWF has organized local, regional and interna-tional events and carried out projects for the sake of building the culture of coexis-tence. We started preparing for this workshop one year ago. What really distinguish-es it is the fact that it brings together not only the officials (of ) bureaucracy but al-so academicians, civil society organizations and international agencies involved in services of refugees and asylum seekers.

One main reason for this workshop is the gaps in the refugee and asylum policies in Turkey. However, the recent moves and efforts of Turkey have virtually closed this gap and a serious step was taken with the Law No: 6458 which was adopted by the Parliament on 4 April and approved by the President on 10 April. Yet, we need time to see the practical outcomes.

The terms refugee and asylum-seeker are used with a slightly different meaning in Turkey than the international norms. People who have taken refuge in Turkey in large numbers as a consequence of the recent events in Syria are not called refugees or asylum-seekers but guests. This inevitable inrush of immigration to our border is beyond a regional problem, rather an international one and it is purely and defi-nitely a tragedy. We will have the opportunity to hear from the civil society organi-zations who witness the suffering of those people and who work to offer some cure to that suffering.

I hope that the exchanges between the academicians and representatives of in-ternational organizations, government institutions will lead us to a better under-

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standing of the issue and to new developments for the explication and solution of the problems on more rightful grounds.

In concluding, please accept my warmest regards and my wishes for a very suc-cessful workshop.

Mustafa YeşilPresident, JWF

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SECTION I

Turkey’s Refugee Policy from International

Perspectives

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Turkey’s Policy on Refugee-Asylum Seekers: Current Practices

EsEn AltuğTuRKISH MINISTRy OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEPuTy DIRECTOR GENERAL FOR IMMIGRATION, ASyLuM AND VISA

Distinguished Participants,

First of all, I would like to thank the Journalists and Writers Foundation and Women Platform for organizing this workshop. Migration, asylum and visa issues are priorities of our human-being focused foreign policy. I believe that asylum and immigration issues will be well-comprehended by the public after this workshop. In fact, our migration policy focuses on kinsmen immigration. However, nowadays our country is being affected by different immigration flows. Therefore we need a multi-dimensional migration policy. Turkey which is traditionally a transit and source country for migration, has become a target country due to the recent devel-opments in her economy . A substantial increase has been observed in the number of asylum seekers in recent years.

In addition illegal migration that stems from the difference of development lev-el between countries and territories has increased. This illegal migration can im-balance the internal stability of the European countries. Illegal migration may pose serious threats to public order, public security and public health of our coun-try in the coming years. Because of its imbalancing effect, it has become necessary to develop holistic and long term policies and strategies regarding migration. The Foreigners and International Protection Law has been adopted by the Turkish Par-liament on 11 April 2013 in order to form the basis of an effective and strong mi-gration management system by establishing the necessary legal and administrative infrastructure.With the adoption of this comprehensive new law, Turkey has taken

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a major step in transforming its migration and asylum infrastructure in line with international standards.

This law harmonizes national legal framework in the field of migration with in-ternational standards and the EU acquis.

The 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Legal Status of Refugees and its addendum 1967 Protocol (New York) are the two fundamental international doc-

uments concerning refugees. Article 1 of the 1951 Geneva Convention states that the term “refugee” shall apply to any person who, owing to well-found-ed fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, reli-gion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection

of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.

Today, although some studies are being carried out for enhancing the “refugee concept” due to developments since the convention has been signed (e.g. embrac-ing the people displaced due to disasters relating to climate changes), the points in Article 1 of the 1951 convention are the criteria that are internationally accepted and based on by the parties. Our country is a party to the mentioned Convention and Protocol with “geographical limitation”. “Geographical Limitation” is stipulated among the provisions of the Convention. Pursuant to this, the persons who come from the “European countries (European Council member states)” and seek asylum are given refugee status if they are considered to have the required conditions. On the other hand, the people who come from the east of our country, from “outside of Europe” are given “asylum seeker” status, if they satisfy the required conditions. With humanitarian considerations, asylum seekers from outside of Europe are al-lowed to reside temporarily in our country until the procedures for their acceptance to a third country are completed. The procedures for resettlement of these people in a third country are carried out by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative in Turkey. Demands of all applicants are han-dled without discrimination in accordance with the 1951 Geneva Convention and the Protocol dated 1967 and in accordance with “ The 1994 Regulation on Proce-dures and Principles related to Mass Influx and Foreigners arriving in Turkey either

Our country applies the “non-refoulement”

principle in Article 33 of the 1951 Geneva Convention meticulously, despite the

geographic limitation.

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Turkey’s Policy on refugee-Asylum seekers: currenT PrAcTices

15

as Individuals or in Groups wishing to seek Asylum either from Turkey or request-ing Residence Permits with the Intension of seeking Asylum from a Third Country, No: 94/6169”, which has been updated in 2006. Both groups are equally availed of social aid, health aid, rights of employment and education by our country without any discrimination. The persons who face the risk of persecution in case of repatri-ation, are permitted to reside in Turkey temporarily, in accordance with subsidiary protection and protection with humanitarian considerations. Our country applies the “non-refoulement” principle in Article 33 of the 1951 Geneva Convention me-ticulously, despite the geographic limitation.

Within this context, we maintain an “open border” policy for Syrians fleeing from the violence in their country. Turkey strictly complies with the principles of non-refoulment and non-rejection at the border and in accordance with interna-tional refugee law, provides Syrians with “temporary protection” without any dis-crimination. Since the beginning of the events in Syria in March 2011, more than 500.000 Syrians have fled to Turkey and around 100.000 Syrians have returned to Syria on their own will. As of today approxiametly 200.000 Syrians are accommo-dated in shelters. Syrians benefiting from temporary protection are currently hosted in 17 shelters in our border cities. In addition to that , about 200.000 Syrians live outside shelters who are also under our temporary protection.

Turkey attributes utmost importance to the safe-ty and well-being of Syrians under temporary pro-tection. The Syrians staying in shelters are supplied with food and non-food items and they are offered health and education services, psychological sup-port, vocational training and social activity facili-ties. Management of these shelters are carried out in accordance with the “Directive on the Acceptance and Accommodation of The Citizens of Syrian Ar-ab Republic and Stateless Persons Residing in Syria Who Come to Turkey for Seeking Mass Asylum”. Within this context, especially the cooperation with UNHCR on voluntary return of Syrians is maintained.

On the other hand, most of over 20 thousand asylum applications to our coun-try within the year 2012 have been made by the Afghans coming from Iran. Within the last six months, more than 13500 Afghan nationals have applied to UNHCR

Since the beginning of the events in Syria in March 2011, more than 500.000 Syrians have fled to Turkey and around 100.000 Syrians have returned to Syria on their own will. As of today approxiametly 200.000 Syrians are accommodated in shelters.

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Representative in Turkey for seeking asylum. It is stressed that the number of Afghan asylum seekers has increased by 1300 % compared to the same period of the last year.

It is expected that the close relationship between migration and development will be handled in various international platforms, primarily the United Nations. The successful enforcement of our migration policy which has economic, social, securi-ty and international dimensions, is of very high importance in terms of stability in

our territory. With this understanding, our country hosted the Fifth Ministerial Conference of Budapest Process focusing on “Migration Management” (19th April 2013, Istanbul). Furthermore, the “Silk Routes Partnership for Migration” Working Group chaired by Turkey , has produced an expansion to the East to include the so-called “Silk Routes countries” as new participating states to the Budapest process.

Our cooperation with source countries for ille-gal migration transiting our country, especially with Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, is being con-tinued and enhanced in the framework of the Bu-

dapest Process. The Budapest Process will extend towards east, so that the source countries of the irregular migration to European countries and target countries can work together. In the forthcoming period, it is important to maintain the leader role of Turkey within the framework of Budapest Process, particularly in order to stress our efficiency in migration management and combat against illegal immigration.

We believe that well managed migration leads to benefits for countries of origin and destination as well as migrants themselves.

In the forthcoming period, it is important to maintain

the leader role of Turkey within the framework of Budapest Process,

particularly in order to stress our efficiency in

migration management and combat against illegal immigration.

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The UN Refugee Agency’s Focused Studies on Turkey and the Latest Update

CarOl BaTChElOruNHCR TuRKEy REPRESENTATIVE

Well, thank you very much to the host and the chair and to all of you who gath-ered here today expressing interest in this issue. It is a privilege to be here discussing with you together the issues related to forced migration. And here, I would like to think upon excellent presentation made by Ms. Altuğ with an outline of “who is a refugee?”

Of course when we talk about asylum seekers and refugees, we are already not talking about the majority of people in the world who move, who migrate because that migration is voluntary. For someone who is an asylum seeker or refugee, it is a forced migration situation as was explained “someone who is seeking sanctuary or someone who is seeking what we refer to today as international protection. Because they have lost, for one reason or another, they have lost the national protection of their country. Sadly, in the world today, there are over forty million people who are at risk of this situation, and of course, this means that the response can only be one that involves all states. No individual state can or ever should be asked to deal with the full scope of those who are in need of international protection. So, it is very important to have opportunities like this to meet together with academics, with NGOs, with government, with international organizations to assess what is to way forward when we look at the challenges that we are facing in the world today. I am very privileged as the representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to be based in Turkey. We can look at the historical traditions and cultures in Tur-key; I had great honour when I was previously representative in India to meet one of the groups that actually received protection in Turkey over 500 years ago - Jews

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who had fled the situation in Spain who transited Turkey. I had privileged to meet a direct descendent of these persons who received protection in Turkey, centuries ago. And we shall look back over the centuries, over the decades and see this tradition

of hospitality, of protection, of humanitarianism and of asylum that has been extended in Turkey for those in need. Today however, we are moving to a new platform where indeed all of this tradition, all of the framework that has been placed in phases in the past is now coming together codified, legal, for the first time, a legal framework on asylum. That was, as has been mentioned, adopted earlier this month in a framework on foreigners and interna-tional protection. So under this legal framework, it will now be possible very clearly takes steps for-ward, it is a rights-based framework, it is a frame-work that looks outward to see what are the un-dertakings of another states, what other situations around the world that has been mentioned. Just last week, Turkey hosted a very appropriate min-isterial event to look at migration issues from all

the way from Asia to Europe. So it is very important that this legal framework has been adopted and one now provide a very clear codified set of principles based on Turkey’s rich tradition of hospitality and generosity, but based in the rule of law as we go forward.

Now what is the situation in Turkey today? We of course see many asylum seek-ers and persons who are refugees, who are coming from different countries. We have persons who come and approach to us for asylum from countries such as Iraq, Iran and large numbers and increasing numbers of Afghan who are coming from Afghanistan; but also on secondary movement from other countries, Somalia. Last year UNHCR process over 60 different nationalities of persons who have come to Turkey to ask for international protection. Now, of course not every person who asks for protection is necessarily in need of that protection. And this is why there is a very robust refugee status determination procedure to determine which people are in need of that protection and then what would take place for them and which people maybe on the move for other reasons. It doesn’t mean that they don’t have needs, but they don’t necessarily have a need of asylum or international protection. It is important to distinguish these groups. Now, of course in the last two years, we

Despite the challenges that the situation in Syria

has presented, despite increasing numbers coming

from neighbouring countries such as Iraq, Iran not too

far distinct neighbour, from Afghanistan and so

on. Despite all of these practical real challenges

on the ground in this moment, Turkey took

this historic step to adopt its first ever law on

international protection.

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have seen tragically, the numbers continue to grow and grow and grow of those peo-ple coming from Syria as well. In this regard Turkey has declared temporary protec-tion. UNHCR strongly supports this undertaking. This is an appropriate response when the numbers are so large. As was mentioned over 400 thousand people from Syria in Turkey today. These numbers are too great to do an individual processing and in any case the situation is so clear in Syria that people are in need of protection that this temporary protection response is the correct one.

And we look to this new asylum law and see that already Turkey has anticipated the need for temporary protection. This is already reflected in the new legal frame-work. So in the next year as the transition period unfolds and Turkey adopts the implementing regulations for this new law on international protection. It will be very important that the practise can inform the policy that will unfold under these regulations for the implementation of this law. Certainly temporary protection will be one of the critical elements already reflected in the law. But not only this: even before the international protection law was adopted, Turkey already started tak-ing steps anticipating the elements of this legal framework. One very good exam-ple is the ikamet or the residence fee. Turkey in 2010 took the position that those asylum seekers or those refugees who could not afford to pay this fee -because, of course, those in the situation of forced migration are not necessarily able to take any resources with them may be destitute- Turkey already took the positions that these fees could be waived. This was only discretionary basis. Now under the new law those fees are abolished for refugees. So you see the progression that has taken place; you see this very strong commitment to a rights-based approach and to en-suring that those who are in the situation of forced migration by no choice of their own. That these persons can have the support that is necessary until solutions can be found for them. So I think it is important to acknowledge the steps that Turkey has taken, despite having one of the largest refugee populations on its territory in history. Despite the challenges that the situation in Syria has presented, despite in-creasing numbers coming from neighbouring countries such as Iraq, Iran not too far distinct neighbour, from Afghanistan and so on. Despite all of these practical real challenges on the ground in this moment, Turkey took this historic step to adopt its first ever law on international protection. One that is very soundly based on international principles and standards that codifies traditions of hospitality and at the same time places it in the current international forward looking framework and this is the solid platform on which we can look forward and try to anticipate what the solutions can be.

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I would suggest that in the course of the discussions today, this is where the fo-cus needs to be. If we are looking as indeed the UNHCR has anticipated that by the end of this year, between 40-50 % of the Syrian population may be displaced.

This is over 10 million people. 6,5 million peoples as internally displaced inside Syria, over 3 million people in neighbouring countries, and this is just one country! There has to be international solidar-ity, with regard to the Syria emergency, UNHCR is the leading coordinating agency and has worked within the UN system to develop what is called the Regional Response Plan. We will be launching one month from now in Geneva the fifth version of this plan. We anticipate that the numbers could be, as I said, over 3 million refugees. Every one of those people has a need. 75 % of those people are wom-en and children. 15 % are children. This is roughly 1,5 to 2 million children; it is the future of Syria. If we do not invest in supporting these people, in en-couraging them, in providing protection for them not only physical shelter but anticipating their pro-tection needs. We are doing this service not only to them but to the international community. If we do

not protect the future of Syria, we are not protecting our own future. This is why international protection for those in the forced migration situation is so critical; this is why it is not the responsibility of any one state, although Turkey has done a remarkable job in providing very consistent high quality standard of support and protection to people. This is not Turkey’s problem in isolation. In the Regional Re-sponse Plan, UNHCR and all of the UN agencies and collective agencies that are part of this plan appeal to the international community to meet their commitments. To ensure that the host countries can keep open-border policies, can keep protect-ing and receiving people and can ensure that when the moment comes, because it will come eventually, where people able to consider return to their homes in safety and dignity. That they have indeed a vision for their country that they can go back, they can rebuild, they will have support and encouragement and their youth will be able to carry forward and to pick up the pieces after a conflict and nonetheless re-build their country, rebuild their minds, rebuild their society. This is in the interest of all of us. So in this Regional Response Plan, which is for Syria, but of course, this

If we do not protect the future of Syria, we are not protecting our own future.

This is why international protection for those in

the forced migration situation is so critical;

this is why it is not the responsibility of any one

state, although Turkey has done a remarkable

job in providing very consistent high quality

standard of support and protection to people.

This is not Turkey’s problem in isolation.

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is what we appeal for all refugees. Any person who receives international protection is the responsibility of the international community. We appeal to all actors to par-ticipate in this process to join hands to ensure that people can be supported and to ensure that there are platforms for dialog. Here again is another reason why this law on international protection is so important because through these legal frameworks states have a system and mechanism to cooperate with one another.

Now what can the possible solutions be for persons who are refugees? Typical-ly they are only three. One is that they have the chance ultimately to return back to their country of origin in safety, in dignity and to rebuild their lives. This is the solution that if you speak to most of the Syrians today, this is the solution that they are looking forward to. This is solution, all refugees, no one who is forced from their home and their country and their family prefers that situation. This is the solution we seek to ensure for all refugees. Another solution is resettlement. This is where third countries come forward and are willing to express support and solidarity with neighbouring and host countries by accepting some numbers to go to their country and settle there and to rebuild a life there. Well, this is not yet a point of discussion for Syrians, certainly this is a strong program that UNHCR has in Turkey in coop-eration with the government of Turkey for many of the other refugees. There is an opportunity if they, first of all, are identified to be a refugee. We do not resettle economic migrants, or persons who are moving for other reasons but if UNHCR and the government of Turkey have agreed “this is a ref-ugee”, if we agree together that this is the best solu-tion for that person we will seek together to find a third country that would be willing to accept that person on resettlement. An indeed UNHCR has its largest individual resettlement program in the world here in Turkey. With strong collaboration from states in North America, in Asia also in Eu-rope and this is very important expression of solidarity. And UNHCR works very closely with other institutions once persons are identified to go on resettlement to ensure that they can reach their resettlement country in safety, in dignity as well. Third option is that some persons may be able to stay in the host country, and, of course, this is entirely dependent on the host country not being left in isolation to deal with refugee flows.

But if UNHCR and the government of Turkey have agreed “this is a refugee”, if we agree together that this is the best solution for that person we will seek together to find a third country that would be willing to accept that person on resettlement.

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So I will just close acknowledging that by virtue of Turkey’s geography, by virtue of its location in the world, Turkey will be a country of transit and Turkey is also a country of destination. It is important these critical steps that Turkey has taken to advance clear frameworks for international protection must be met with inter-national solidarity and commitment to support Turkey and Turkish people in ad-vancing these frameworks. UNHCR works very closely with Turkish officials, with various institutions toward this end; also with academics, with NGOs in the coun-try. We look forward to strengthening even further, particularly in the next year as the implementing regulations for the new law will be drafted, will be promulgat-ed where this detail on international protection will be articulated UNHCR looks forward in partnership to working with all of you today to advance and continue to strengthen the wonderful undertakings that are taking place in Turkey today. Thank you very much.

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Trends in Migration Management: The Case of Turkey

MEEra SEThICHIEF OF MISSION, IOM TuRKEy

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a distinct honor for me, on behalf of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), to participate in this important workshop. The theme is both timely and relevant especially at a time when we are witnessing some of the greatest political and social transformations primarily in the Middle East and North Africa region including the recent mass displacement from Syria. The impact of these pro-found changes on Turkey cannot be underestimated as it is a region that faces the greatest migration challenges and none is making greater efforts to manage these in a humane manner. I would like to thank the Government of Turkey for its generous hospitality offered to the Syrians as well its continuous efforts to share the burden of responsibility.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We live in an era of the greatest human mobility in recorded history. Numeri-cally, there are more people on the move today than ever before: 1 billion people; a seventh of humanity is on the move at any one time. If all the migrants were to form a nation, they would be the third largest on the globe, right after China and India. The total number of international migrants has increased over the last 10 years from an estimated 150 million in 2000 to 214 million persons in 2010. If current rates of international migration continue, the number of international migrants world-wide could reach 405 million by 2020. In short, one of out of every 33 persons in

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the world today is a migrant (whereas in 2000 one out of every 35 persons was a mi-grant).1 It is estimated there are around 740 million internal migrants.

This is a fundamental reality that we have to address - large scale human mobil-ity will be a “mega-trend” of the 21st century. Moreover, migration cuts across all

sectors and all aspects of our work: be it labor, trade, environment, border management, climate change, emergencies –conflict driven or as a result of natu-ral disasters and migration and development. To-day, virtually every government regards migration as a top geopolitical issue, one that will inevitably contribute to defining relations among states and world regions.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The percentage of migrants varies greatly from country to country and region to region. Migration is no longer a North-South phenomenon; South-South Mi-gration still stands at a higher level across regions. Let me share with you a few ex-amples: Countries with a high percentage of migrants includes Qatar (87%), Unit-ed Arab Emirates (70%), Jordan (46%), Singapore (41%), and Saudi Arabia (28%). Countries with a low percentage of migrants include South Africa (3,7%), Slovakia (2,4%), Turkey (1,9%), Japan (1,7%), Nigeria (0,7%), Romania (0,6%), India (0,4%) and Indonesia (0,1%).2

In Turkey, an important member state, IOM initiated its migration programs in the late 80s and established a strong presence in 1991 following the Gulf crises. As you all very well know, Turkey is one of those countries that have been affected by diverse forms of migratory movements throughout its history. Turkey’s geographical location, dynamic economy, complex strategic environment, and its efforts to inte-grate with the EU, make the country an increasingly attractive destination for many migrants. They include people needing international protection, seasonal workers, and highly qualified professionals, students, increasing numbers of unskilled irreg-ular migrants as well as potential and actual trafficked individuals looking for a way into the thriving Turkish labor market. Today Turkey can be described as being a sending, transit and a destination country.

As per the entry and departure statistics there has been an increase from 12 mil-

1. http://www.iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home/about-migration/facts--figures-1.html2. http://www.iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home/about-migration/facts--figures-1.html

If current rates of international migration

continue, the number of international migrants worldwide could reach

405 million by 2020.

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lion entries to Turkey in 2001 to 38 million in 2011. In 2011, Turkey provided 16, 890 work permits3 compared to 9, 438 work permits in 2005. In 2012 Turkey gave resident permits to 233, 290 persons with the top nationalities being from Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Russia, Germany, UK, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Moldova, and the Central Asian countries.

Within this framework, IOM as leading agency on migration was grateful to pro-vide technical assistance to the drafting of the new Law on Foreigners and Interna-tional Protection that was adopted by the Parliament on 4 April 2013 and entered into force on 11 April 2013. The new law will provide a legal framework that will build the institutional and administrative capacities to tackle challenges of migra-tion in general and regular as well as irregular migration in particular. The reform will benefit in many areas including:

• Establishment of a legal, administrative infrastructure for migration manage-ment; harmonization with international standards and EU Acquis; and the elimination of the gaps leading to European Court on Human Rights viola-tion decisions against Turkey;

• Institute effective Inter-institutional Cooperation both at the policy and at the operational level;

• Creation of various commissions and boards such as the Migration Policies Board, Coordination Board on Fight Against Illegal Migration and Migra-tion Advisory Board that will support the process;

• Striking a alance between security and human rights It is important to note that work on secondary legislation related to entry, exit residence and oth-er aspects has already begun in conjunction with the General Directorate of Migration Management.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We cannot talk about migration without giving the attention to the latest devel-opments in the neighboring countries a topic that will be discussed this afternoon. In the last two years, since March 2011 the world is witnessing continued unrest and violence in Syria that has taken lives of many innocent women and children and disrupted the social fabric of a country that was amongst the top ten host countries for refugees in the world. At a point Syria was hosting over 1 million Iraqi refugees and 500,000 Palestinian refugees. In addition, there are a significant number of mi-

3. Source: MLSS, Department of Foreigners’ Work Permits

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grant workers that have been residing in Syria. IOM estimates there are between 120 thousand and 150 thousand migrant workers in Syria of which 15 thousand may be in priority need of assistance for evacuation, transit or border reception, repatria-tion, health services and psychosocial support. Since March 2011, IOM has helped

some 3300 vulnerable migrants from 36 countries to safely return home4.

Examining the Syria crisis through a migration lens one can witness complex migratory flows char-acterized by growing levels of internal displacement, refugee movements, irregular migration, stranded migrant workers, victims of trafficking are amongst the direct results of this crisis. The Syrian conflict is important to consider from this standpoint as it

encompasses many facets of movement and migration, including the facilitation of migration, whether it is of refugees or labour migrants inside Syria; the regulation of migration, such as mass and complex cross border movements, and the supervision of porous borders; migration as it relates to diaspora populations and remittances (Syr-ians abroad) and the protection of migrants including rights and access to asylum.

Ladies and Gentleman,

It is 62 years, since its establishment in 1951, that IOM has been addressing mi-gration related challenges worldwide. IOMs migration activities have grown tremen-dously, both in volume and in complexity. The critical question for States, therefore, is how to manage migration effectively – both nationally and regionally — because, given these global trends, large population movements are inevitable. Migration is necessary, and if managed properly, desirable as well. The question is how do States strike a balance between controlling migration and facilitating migration.

Finally, as Turkey is revising its 10th national development plan, is a pilot country for the post 2015 development agenda and as it prepares itself to take on the chair-manship of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GMFD) in 2014-2015, I would like to conclude my remarks with three points:

• First, I would like to stress the importance of international cooperation at multilateral, regional and bilateral levels based on the principles of shared re-sponsibility between countries of origin, transit and destination; a basic in-gredient for managing migration;

4. Humanitarian Crisis in Syria: A Special Report on the Impact of Syrian Refugees in the OSCE Region

Migration is necessary, and if managed properly,

desirable as well. The question is how do States strike a balance between controlling migration and

facilitating migration.

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• Second, the need for States to lay greater emphasis on protection and ensure the respect of Human rights of all migrants and their families. Migration is the human side of globalization;

• Third, the shifting the public perception on migration from a narrow and inadequate view to a wider acknowledgement and awareness of the role that migrants could play as partners in development and of migration as a poten-tial development strategy.

Coherence, cooperation, capacity building and a comprehensive approach to manage migration are the ways forward.

Thank you all for your attention

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Turkey’s Refugee Policy and Practices from the Civil Society Perspective

OkTay DurukaNrefugee ProgrAm mAnAger AT helsinki ciTizens Assembly Turkey (hyd- hcA)

The nongovernmental organizations in Turkey have considerably increased their awareness and activities on refugees within the last decade. As the nongovernmen-tal organizations engaged in this field, we are paying efforts to make a contribution in three areas:

Firstly, we function as an important pillar in providing legal and psychosocial support activities, assistance actions, meeting the basic needs of refugees and their access to the protection mechanisms in the field;

Secondly, we undertake a mission to monitor and supervise the practices of the government agencies from the human rights and legal state perspectives, which is a must in democratic societies;

Thirdly, based on the problems and deficiencies we identified in practices, we are trying to make constructive criticisms and suggestions to improve legislation and policies.

I will try to make a brief retrospective statement about the policies and practic-es of Turkey on this matter from the historical perspective. Therefore, I will try to outline the problems and deficiencies still going on from our point of view. In the second part of my speech, I will try to make a general prospective assessment on the new “Law on Foreigners and International Protection” which was accepted on the 4th of April and the new period that started with this law. But, I can say in advance that we are really hopeful for this new period.

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I would like to begin by giving some figures in this regard. Now, there are over 400 thousand Syrian refugees in Turkey. This is a collective asylum seeking action, an exceptional and special case. However, even if the Syria issue never arose, now 17-18 thousand refugees are seeking individual asylum each year in Turkey, espe-cially Iraqi, Iranian, Afghan, Somali and other people. The figure of 18 thousand people is almost 4 times higher than the figures in 2005. Now, there are almost 35 thousand individual refugees and asylum seekers registered to the UN High Com-missioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Turkey. This is, of course, the population that can seek asylum to the related authorities and therefore the statistically registered population. Moreover, there are also some people, some refugees who run away from war/cruelty conditions; however, caught while “in action” trying to reach the EU passing Turkey in transit.

The bridge-like geographical status of Turkey has always been mentioned; and indeed, Turkey-Greek corridor became one of the most important transit routes for the irregular migration actions towards the UE in recent years. To make a numerical analysis, for example, almost 55 thousand captures were conducted on the Greek side of the border in 2011, while 25 thousand captures were conducted on the Turkish side of the border. There are Afghan, Syrian and Iranian refugees among these peo-ple caught. These figures show that Turkey became a very important asylum country for the refugees running away from the war and cruel conditions. Therefore, there is a need for Turkey to meet this asylum phenomenon in accordance with the in-ternational rules and human requirements and to provide legal protection for these people in terms of both the asylum seekers in Turkey and the refugees among the foreigners caught during a disorganized action. For that a proper legal legislation is required, for that duly specialized, highly competent institutions are required, and a strategic policy vision is required.

Evaluating the Previous applications

When we look back on, it is not possible to say that Turkey has presented a poli-cy, legislative framework and an administrative capacity that would meet the needs so far. Our country, basically, has transferred a part of the responsibility to the UN-HCR and the international community by not creating a real policy and adminis-trative capacity in this regard for many years. Turkey has well maintained the “geo-graphical limitation” policy so far; Turkey has not let the refugees coming from the places except Europe find asylum and reside in Turkey in the long term. The respon-sibility of finding another country for the “non-European” refugees where they can

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reside in the long term was left to the UNHCR. Turkey undertook a very limited responsibility on the fundamental rights and basic needs of these people such as accommodation, healthcare and working, who have to be in Turkey for long years in some cases; the refugees were abandoned to take care of themselves in the cities they were sent to reside.

Turkey has tried to manage this field without any law for many years. So far, the provisions that we can call asylum legislation were just a regulation issued in 1994 and an implementation directive issued in 2006. This legislation was a very limited one which did not regulate many dimensions of the asylum field, did not include the necessary main procedure securities of the first application phase and the de-cision and objection phases and left a very vast jurisdiction to the administration.

Given the institutional framework a single unit within the Turkish National Po-lice (TNP), Department of Foreigners Borders and Asylum was responsible for all the policies and practices on migration/asylum before the enactment of the new law. Surely, police basically has to see the issues from the “security” perspective as their terms of reference requires, however, the migration/asylum phenomenon has oth-er aspects such as “human rights, society, and economy “besides” security”. Police forces could not duly perform its duty to manage this field due to the deficiencies in the legislation that should shed light on the practices and the lack of specializa-tion, budget and capacity.

On the other hand, when the deficiencies in the legal guarantees are combined with the narrow “security” perspective of the enforcement personnel significant prob-lems on the access of the refugees especially caught “in action” and in an irregular status, to the asylum procedures and the High Commissioner for Refugees occurred.

Well, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has made so many viola-tion decisions in the cases filed by the refugees against Turkey since 2008. The Court sentenced Turkey to pay high indemnifications due to the fact that the deportation and administrative supervision decisions of Turkey are lack of legal foundations; the people seeking asylum after being caught encounter arbitrary preventions and the current domestic remedies cannot provide effective solutions.

In conclusion, Turkey, so far, has tried to meet the situations of asylum of a col-lective nature, which arise from time to time in our geography, with political and administrative discretion-based policies without the existence of a sufficient legis-lative framework. The issue of Syrian people is the final example for that. A policy that we find very positive in general regarding the Syrians who started to seek asy-

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lum in Turkey since April 2011 was adopted. Turkey opened its borders from the very first day and declared that any of the Syrians would be sent back by force and took serious measures to meet the basic human needs.

However, since these practices do not have any obvious foundation in the legis-lation, the status of these people in Turkey and the procedures and principles they are subjected to are still ambiguous. It has been said that a Communication which regulates the procedures and principles of the “temporary protection” provided to the Syrians in March 2012 was issued; however, it is kept “secret” for a reason we can never understand and shared neither with the Syrians who are the addressee of the practices, nor with lawyers or with non-governmental organizations. This approach is the reflection of the mechanism of administrative discretion and the lack of the rule of law, which I have been trying to identify in the practices so far.

Considerations related to the New law

So far, I have tried to make an analysis looking back on; now, I would like to look forward in the second half of my speech. The new “Law on Foreigners and Interna-tional Protection” enacted in the General National Assembly of Turkey in the 4th of April is a historically important step for our country. I believe that we, as a country, can eliminate the series of deficiencies and problems in this field to a great extend in this new era to begin with the law.

This law was prepared in a scope to thoroughly fill the legislative deficiency when it was put into effect in a year; the law re-regulates the criteria, application and as-sessment procedures on the deportation and administrative supervision practices in the context of irregular migration and on the practices in the asylum field called “in-ternational protection” and the procedural securities to be provided to these people and the legal means of objection in a detailed way.

The notification of all kinds of decisions to people, the securities on the access to lawyers, notary publics and the authorities of the UNHCR; the explicit references to the consultancy services provided by the non-governmental organizations and the Judicial Assistant services provided by the Bar Associations are all very positive.

The status of “secondary protection” for those who cannot go back to their coun-tries due to general violence acts, torture and death penalty, and the provision which envisages the arrest of the deportation judgment due to human reasons are the pos-itive aspects of the law.

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The procedures and principles of the “temporary provision” to be provided in collective asylum in the context of Syrian people will be regulated in detail with a new regulation on the related article of the law.

In addition, the law creates a new competent and a civil organization that will be in charge of all the policies and practices in this field, namely the General Director-ate of Migration Management (GDMM). This General Directorate will take over the tasks on the migration/asylum field from the General Directorate of Security (GDS), and the visa application tasks from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This new institution is designed to have various bodies to create sound central, local and international organizations for consulting and policy-making purposes.

Indeed, it is very accurate to leave this field to a specialized, non-police civil in-stitution and to authorize this institution not only in administrative procedures but also in the other aspects of the issue such as the support services and integra-tion studies for these people. Stating that this new law is a very beneficial and his-torically important step for our country, I would like to make some observations on the issues that we consider incomplete or would create some difficulties in practice.

First of all, the law still maintains the “geographical limitation” policy, which is a drawback for us. From now on, the refugees coming out of European countries will continue to take shelter “temporarily” in Turkey in accordance with a status called “conditional refugee”; for the long term solution, it is set forth to find another country for them with the assistance of the UNHCR. However, we see that this settlement policy actually failed to be sus-tainable. Almost 18 thousand new requests were made to the UNHCR in 2012; 80 % of these re-quests were accepted, which means a great majority of the people seeking asylum in Turkey are the ones who are really in the status of a refugee and cannot go back to their countries.

In the same period, the number of refugees that were able to be resettled in a third country from Turkey with the help of the UNHCR is only 6 thousand. That is to say, there are 18 thousand new requests but 14-15 thousand of them will be accepted; however, only 6 thousand of them can be placed in a year. This is the limit of the quotas set by the settlement countries for Turkey. It means that most of the refugees coming out of Europe and

The status of “secondary protection” for those who cannot go back to their countries due to general violence acts, torture and death penalty, and the provision which envisages the arrest of the deportation judgment due to human reasons are the positive aspects of the law.

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seeking asylum in Turkey will continue to stay in Turkey in fact despite their “tem-porary” status on paper. The continuation of the “geographical limitation” means “suspension” and ambiguity in every sense for these people. We, a recognized mem-ber of the international community, consider that Turkey should be entirely a safe

port for the asylum seekers by eliminating the “geo-graphical limitation”.

As I summarized before, the new law includes really advanced procedural securities and means of objection for refugees and other foreigners; how-ever, we are concerned about the implementation of these new securities and the access by the right holders to these securities. For example, when re-sorting to the jurisdiction against a negative decision on deportation or asylum appeals, the deportation

procedures for the related person will be automatically suspended. This is a positive development. However, an appeal must be filed within 15 days; and also, the related administrative court must conclude the appeal within 15 days; this decision is not appealable, which means not accountable for the audit of the superior court. In this case, a person will be deemed to exhaust domestic remedies with this single appeal.

Again, according to the new law, not only the foreigners in the deportation pro-cedure but also some kinds of refugees will be kept under administrative supervision while their asylum appeals are assessed, which means they will be deprived of free-dom and these types of appeals will be concluded more rapidly using an “accelerated procedure”. In this rapid process, we are concerned that it will be actually very hard especially for the refugees in administrative custody to have access to lawyers and apply for an effective appeal within such a short period of time, 15 days. It is very constructive that the law refers to the Legal Assistance services of the bar associa-tions; however our bar associations have almost no preparations and expertise in this issue; on the other hand, they need additional funds to assign lawyers and to meet the legal expenses. In this case, the information and legal support activities that we, the non-governmental organizations, will carry out in order to put the rights and securities specified in the law into practice will be of great importance. We have ac-tively participated in the preparation process of this law and we have tried to make a contribution to it as the non-governmental organizations engaged in this field.

The preparation process of the law was undertaken by the new division in the Ministry of Interior, Asylum and Migration Office (AMO). This division is the first

We, a recognized member of the international

community, consider that Turkey should be entirely a safe port for the asylum

seekers by eliminating the “geographical limitation”.

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core of the General Directorate to be established. The office adopted a very account-able and participatory approach in this 3 year preparation process; provided the op-portunity to submit opinions and suggestions for non-governmental organizations and academicians; it would not be wrong to say that these opinions and suggestions have been considered to some extent; and in this participatory process, we have en-sured some additional improvements taking an effective part in the Parliament Com-mission discussions on the law. In the countries that manage the asylum and migra-tion dynamics in line with the contemporary standards, civil shareholders as well as the public institutions undertake great responsibilities in policy-making and mon-itoring the practices and eliminating the problems and violations that could arise. The transparent and participatory approach adopted in the preparation process of the law should continue more strongly from now on. As the non-governmental or-ganizations, we would like to continue our contribution in creating the secondary legislation and designing new institutions and policies in the transition period ahead.

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SECTION II

Turkey’s Position and its Practices Pertaining to

Syrians in Turkey

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Fellow’s Hand Reaches to the Neighbor: Syria

TuraN ErkOçWArm heArThsTone To The neighbor from disAsTer And emergency mAnAgemenT Presidency (demP)

As the results of emerging internal conflicts in Syria in April 2011, Syrian citi-zens who were concerned about their life security crossed the border and came to our country. Prime Ministry, Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency was instructed to meet the humanitarian needs of the people coming from Syria, need of shelter in the first place. Construction of the shelter centers in intense transit re-gions was completed with the coordination of our presidency.

We carried out Open Door Policy for Syrian citizens. We did not repudiated our suffering neighbors. We carried out to meet all their needs by giving Temporary Protection status to them. In the first place in Hatay province Altınözü, Yayladağı and Reyhanlı tent cities were constructed by our presidency and Syrian guests were replaced to these shelter centers. As a result of successful cooperation with the Red Crescent and NGOs alongside with the Ministry of Health and Foreign Affairs, primarily the need of shelter, health, clothing and 3 meals a day began to be ful-filled completely.

Upper degree of our government particularly distinguished Prime Minister Re-cep Tayyip Erdoğan and Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay approached to this is-sue with a great sensitivity and pioneered to direct the international community’s attention to Syrian citizens that were hosted in our country. In the charge of the dis-tinguished Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and with the instructions of the distinguished Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay, Disaster and Emergency Manage-ment Presidency stood by with our Syrian fellows with the successful coordination.

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As the population movements increasingly continued, our presidency started the construction of new sheltering centers for our Syrian guests. In that direction, with 12 thousand person capacity Öncüpınar container city in Kilis was put into ser-vice with Ceylanpınar and Akçakale tent cities in Şanlıurfa, Islahiye, Karkamış and

Nizip tent city in Gaziantep. Distinguished Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Öncüpınar container city in Kilis after a short time of the open-ing and examined the area. Our Prime Minister ad-dressed to Syrians by saying; “You can feel home be-cause here is your brothers’ homeland. You are more than welcome until the security is provided in Syria and until you want to turn back to your land with your own free will.”

The Camps are “World Class” Camps

Kahramanmaraş, Adıyaman and Osmaniye Cevdeti-ye tent cities were constructed after the installation

of the mentioned sheltering centers. The living standard is much higher than in av-erage camps elsewhere in the world classes in these 14 tent cities and 3 container cities that were constructed in total 8 provinces. Besides the camps being installed at present in Mardin and Malatya are about to be completed soon. All the oppor-tunities are provided for about 200 thousand Syrian guests that are residing in our camps such as food, health, education, communication, banking, worship and social activities as well as shelter. Our presidency provides up high rank living standards for our Syrian guests with a successful coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health, Ministries of Education, state institution and organi-zations related to that and Red Crescent.

As the part of collective works carried out together with the Ministry of Educa-tion more than 26 thousand Syrian pupils get education in the classes and branch-es built in sheltering centers. More than 1,200 teachers teach in our camps and also around more than 27 thousand adult trainees get education in the training courses.

Qualified doctors and medical staff from the Ministry of Health provide treat-ment opportunities to the sick and wounded Syrian citizens both in the field hos-pitals and state hospitals of provinces and districts. More than 900 thousand am-bulatory care services were provided in our camps up to the present. There is ap-

More than 26 thousand Syrian pupils get

education in the classes and branches built in

sheltering centers. More than 1,200 teachers teach in our camps

and also around more than 27 thousand adult trainees get education in the training courses.

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proximately 7 thousand ambulatory care services are given per day and those Syrian citizens who could not have the treatment in our camps are sent to the nearest state hospitals by ambulance vehicles.

As the intensified violence in the north of Syria causes difficulty in delivering the humanitarian aid to that region, our presidency coordinates distribution of the humanitarian aid in 8 aid reception centers justified with the international law at zero point in the border.

Since April 2011 our presidency sent more than 800 million TL emergency sub-sidies to the governors in parallel with the requirements of the Syrian guests. As the whole country, we have spent over than $ 600 million. When it is calculated related with the standards of the UN, the cost is over $ 1,5 billion. We made an internation-al call for aid in April 13, 2012 for the Syrian citizens through the Ministry of For-eign Affairs. But unfortunately, international support was below than the expected.

Syrian citizens passed the border safely, were replaced to the sheltering centers and all their needs were provided with the successful works with the coordination of distinguished Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay both by organizing meetings with the heads of the centers and with the frequent visits and inspections he kept them on the agenda. He was a pioneer on perform-ing required works to prepare better conditions for the Syrian guests.

Great appreciation from the International Community

As the service and aids are carried out non- stop for the Syrian guests, in recent times the interna-tional community and the instution and organiza-tions directed their attention to this issue. Many of the international news agencies, TV channel, journalist and correspondents visited our sheltering centers and that helped to direct the world’s attention to this region. Senior representatives of the many international institutions and organizations made inspection visits to our sheltering centers.

Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon, Deputy Secretary Gen-eral of the United Nations Valerie Amos, the Foreign Minister of the USA of the time Hillary Clinton, UN Arab League Special Representative El-Ahdar El-Ibrahimi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, UN Arab League For-

There is approximately 7 thousand ambulatory care services are given per day and those Syrian citizens who could not have the treatment in our camps are sent to the nearest state hospitals by ambulance vehicles.

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mer Special Representative Kofi Annan and UN Special Representative and Good-will Ambassador Angelina Jolie visited our sheltering centers and met with Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay and our president Dr. Fuat Oktay. In their statements they thanked to Turkey for hosting the Syrian citizens and for the high rank living

standards in the sheltering centers. All our staff in the camps continues to give help to our Syrian guests not only with a sense of mission but also welcoming with sensitivity and sincerity.

According to the United Nations statements, 4 million people left their homes in Syria. 350 thou-sand of the people who were forced to migrate are hosted in our country. The rest of the refugees strive to carry on their lives in other countries particularly in Lebanon and Jordan. We can foresee that these

arrivals will rapidly increase in the forthcoming term. There are also many victims of war inside Syria and are struggling with hunger. Our country makes a great re-markable effort to maintain the lives of the brothers staying in our camps and the lives of the neighbors fighting in Syria.

Our government constructed tent cities in the first place for the Syrians and then built container cities. We did not only provide shelter and food services. Besides we provided health services. We provided psychological support. We provided education service for the school-age children. We provided language training and vocational courses. When compared to UN and other countries we provide higher rank life standards in our camps than UN standards. We established a common democratic governing system which would enable to participate to the camp governing. The elections were held in all the quarters of the camps. The representatives were elected, they were represented on behalf of the camp governing. Despite living in the camps we provided a high standard living conditions for our Syrian brothers. Of course when I say “life quality”, I mean a quality of the living conditions within the camps.

Most of those people lost their relatives or left them behind. They are psycholog-ically devastated. So we provide a good life style in present conditions. We carry out these services in the coordination of the Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency with the cooperation of the related Ministry, public institu-tion and private sector and the NGOs. Our institutions as the Ministry of Education in education, the Ministry of Health in health, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in international affairs, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock in food safe-

We made an international call for aid in April 13,

2012 for the Syrian citizens through the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But unfortunately, international support was below than the expected.

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ty, the Ministry of Internal Affairs in safety provide all kinds of contribution and carry out an effective work with the local organizations in the province. The rapid increase of the Syrians outside the camps and in border provinces, necessarily made it obligatory to progress a system to meet the needs of the people outside the camps.

DEMP, within the framework of the distinguished Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Open Door Policies constantly makes plans within the bounds of the possi-bility of our country for the continuing migration movements. We invite the inter-national community and NGOs persistently to be a part of this system. In this con-text, we have prepared Project pools that define how the public institution, organi-zations and NGOs could help us in the system we built in and outside the camps. In Project pools, we provided ambulatory care services, mobile health centers, medical materials and medicine to increase the NGOs attention and contribution to carry out the health services and we provided sample school projects with 12-24 classes and preparation of the training materials to maintain the education of the people outside the camps. In the ground of the nourishment, by making the records of the people outside the camps in a classification of infant, child, and adult; we specified the food supplies and such like vital needs and made the suppliers work easier. In outside camp structure we are developing a system where the countries, national and international institution and organizations, NGOs and individuals could partici-pate. We can foresee that, with the help of this system, people in need and charita-ble people would be combined in a common model so that the subsidies would be efficiently delivered in an accessible way for those in need. We are gathering once in every 15 days with the relevant Ministry and organizations in the presidency of the distinguished Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay to enable to carry out these services, efficient coordination and to make major decisions.

We should motivate international community and NGOs by the Red Crescent to help to carry out the lives of the victims in Syria to deliver aid to the “zero point” and inside the Syria. All these Works we carried out in the field of humanitarian aid, high standards and the solemnity on the steps we have taken to increase the life quality; contributes greatly to our country’s international credibility. In the orga-nizations and countries related to international community primarily UN, Turkish Republic became a pioneer and model country. We wish and hope that the internal conflicts in Syria would end up soon, the problem would arrive at a political solu-tion peacefully and all the Syrian refugees in other countries would repatriate to their homes in safety.

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Syrian Crisis from the European Union Perspective

FraNçOIS NauCODIEDELEGATION OF THE EuROPEAN COMMISSION TO TuRKEy, FIRST COuNSELLOR, POLITICAL OFFICER

I am pleased to be here today upon the initiative of the Foundation of Journalists and Writers to present mainly the EU’s response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria. The EU is appalled by the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Syria and deeply concerned by the spill-over effects of the crisis in neighbouring countries; as it has been recalled by many EU Foreign Affairs Council conclusions.

Unfortunately, we all recognise and share the same concern as regards a situa-tion which is going from bad to even worse in Syria. An estimated1 6,5 million peo-ple are affected by the on-going violence and require humanitarian assistance. UN agencies estimate that 4,25 million have also been displaced within Syria. And every day of violence adds to this number. There are now over 1,2 million (registered and awaiting-registration) refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Egypt and North Africa. Again, this number is rising daily as hostilities continue.

appreciation of Turkish Efforts

The EU immensely appreciates the efforts of the Turkish authorities in pro-viding shelter for Syrian citizens seeking refuge from the widespread violence and insecurity prevalent in their own country. We recognise that this implies a very sig-nificant burden for Turkey. This burden is particularly acute given the protracted nature of the crisis. We appreciate, in addition, that Turkey is hosting a significant

1. ECHO figures

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number of Syrian urban refugees outside the camps and channelling aid mainly to the informal Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps established alongside the Syrian side of the border. European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and European Commission Vice-President (HRVP)

Ashton made some public statements in that direc-tion when she was here earlier this month2.

The challenges to cope with this massive influx are considerable and the end of this huge human-itarian crisis is not yet within sight. The interna-tional community is impressed by the quality and the swiftness of the response that Turkey has given to address it. The international community has fol-lowed up closely the unfolding of this crisis across the region concerned by the Syrian upheaval and has sought to assist the affected countries with substan-tial financial resources.

Eu response

As the humanitarian situation has worsened, the EU has increased its response. The EU with its Member States is the largest donors in terms of re-acting to the crisis in Syria. EU humanitarian as-

sistance has now reached a total contribution of the order of €550 million. While €322M of this figure directly comes from EU institutions, an additional €228M is allocated by the EU Member States. And this figure does not even yet include pledges made in Kuwait of over €172 million. So the EU response actually equals around half of all international humanitarian aid to Syria.

Our priorities are to give aid to the displaced people in Syria and adequate assis-tance to the Syrian refugees in other countries. We are pursuing all possible channels of aid delivery to reach people in need. The objective of our humanitarian financing is to reach the most vulnerable, no matter who and where they are.

At this point, I imagine some of you might recall allegations of quite limited EU contribution to Turkey’s efforts to host Syrian refugees. There has also been some

2. 3 – 4 April 2013

The EU has established a Regional Support

Programme for populations affected by the crisis in Syria.

Within the overall budget foreseen for the

programme, €8.2 million is to be allocated to

Turkey, where the EU will work with UNICEF

and UNHCR with the aim of helping the

authorities and local communities address

the consequences of the crisis.

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criticism prevalent in the Turkish media. I also think we need to clear up certain misperceptions with regard to the European Union’s response to the humanitari-an crisis in Syria and its impact in Turkey. Let me be very clear on these criticisms: First of all, the EU supported and will continue to support Turkey’s efforts with regard to hosting Syrian refuges in close cooperation with our Turkish interlocu-tors. Secondly, we need to remember that the EU aid is disbursed in line with the International Humanitarian Law and our partners’ needs assessment inside Syria and neighbouring countries to help those in the greatest need, irrespective of their host country, nationality, religion, gender, ethnic origin or political affiliation. Yes it is true that the majority (about 60 %) of EU humanitarian aid has been com-mitted inside Syria, with considerable financing directed also to Jordan and Leba-non, where the needs are greatest. To sum up, as it is said in Turkish: “Allah dağina göre kar verirmiş”

In addition to more than €300 million, the EU has allocated €25 million of assis-tance specifically for Turkey. The EU has established a Regional Support Programme for populations affected by the crisis in Syria. Within the overall budget foreseen for the programme, €8.2 million is to be allocated to Turkey, where the EU will work with UNICEF and UNHCR with the aim of helping the authorities and local com-munities address the consequences of the crisis. The European Commission’s Di-rectorate-General for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) has made so far €5M available for Turkey: €1 million already provided to UNHCR, €2,5 million to Kizilay (for winterization), € 1,5 million remains to be committed.

The European Commission is preparing a further package of €13 million for Turkey under pre-accession assistance. The first is €10 million from Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) 2010 reallocation - direct grant to UNHCR for measures addressing mainly mid/long term effects of the crisis. The second is €3 million for (general) capacity building to DEMP via ESEI3.

In addition to purely humanitarian assistance, let me also mentioned a recent decision to allocate from Instrument for Stability (IfS) €10m to finance basic ser-vices (primary healthcare – (GiZ) and support to the Syrian opposition Assistance Coordination Unit (ACU) to build capacity to assist in facilitating aid delivery. We know that an amount of €25M assistance would not suffice to heal the sufferings of Syrian refugees in Turkey; but at least it shows the EU’s solidarity and determina-tion to support Turkey in cases of need.

3. Enhanced Support Activities to Strengthen the European Integration Process

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The Way Forward and Conclusion

All these being said, we are keen to identify how we can boost our assistance to Turkey in the short term. Looking ahead, we note the significance of our work with recognised partners, starting with UN agencies and international humanitarian NGOs. We note the important work of international humanitarian NGOs, whose knowledge of other refugee crises is recognized by the International Community. This is why we are keen to see swift finalisation of the pending registration processes

of international humanitarian NGO’s in Turkey to further enhance the humanitarian space in Turkey and increase burden sharing. In Turkey, however, our partners (I mean both UN agencies and internation-al humanitarian NGO’s) have thus far enjoyed only limited access to address the humanitarian needs of Syrian citizens. Lastly, I would also like to say few re-marks on Turkey’s migration policies following the adoption of the Law on Foreigners and Internation-al Protection earlier this month. This landmark de-velopment has consolidated our positive outlook on

the EU – Turkey political dialogue on migration. Turkey is working its way through a comprehensive legislative and institutional reform package, and has successfully completed negotiations on the Readmission Agreement with the EU. We hope and expect Turkey to sign soon this Agreement to allow the EU-Turkey migration, mo-bility and visa dialogue to start.

Managing migration effectively is a common challenge for both the EU and Turkey. Indeed many of the problems that Turkey faces are similar to those that the EU needs to deal with at present. In addition, the perspective of accession to the EU and therefore the need to align legislation and practises make even more important to have a similar, coordinated approach between the EU and Turkey. This is why we believe that any effective response towards irregular migration needs to be one in which we – the EU, its Member States and Turkey – engage together. In this sense, we have a common challenge in our hands, and to ad-dress it effectively there is no doubt that we will all benefit from an intensified cooperation.

I am quite acquainted with Turkish culture and tradition. I know that Turkey’s extremely generous efforts to host Syrian refugees are not just related with the coun-

This is why we believe that any effective response towards

irregular migration needs to be one in which we – the EU, its Member States and Turkey –

engage together.

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try economic power and physical capacity; but also related with Turkish people’s tradition of hospitality. We are grateful for hospitality of Turkish nation towards Syrian refugees, as it is said in the proverbs “Komşusu açken tok yatılmaz”, “Komşu komşunun külüne muhtaçtır”. Thank you for your attention.

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Types of International Protection and the Legal Status of the Syrians in Turkey

Prof. nurAy EKŞİ, PhDyEDITEPE uNIVERSITy, FACuLTy OF LAw, DEPARTMENT OF PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAw

Introduction

In addition to migration at an individual level, Turkey has also been faced with mass influxes of people, since 1980’s, resulting from the events taking place in the neighboring countries. In addition to the 1989’s influx of Turkish-origined immi-grants fleeing from Bulgaria corresponding approximately to 350 thousand people in number, and of peshmerges fleeing from Iraq in masses corresponding approximately to 500 thousand people in number; Turkey has also faced mass influxes of people during the Gulf crisis, the Iran-Iraq war, former Yugoslavian civil war, and the Koso-vo crisis. Furthermore, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the economic and political changes experienced in the Eastern European countries made Turkey the focus of “irregular migration”, or in other words, “illegal migration”. Recently, thou-sands of Syrians have fled into Turkey due the Arab Spring influences in Syria. This paper has been written to address the misuse and misinterpretation of concepts in the statements of official authorities and in the media regarding the legal status of the Syrians living in and outside of the various camps in Turkey.

1. Overview of the Types of International Protection

Some Syrians have fled into Turkey to take refuge. Therefore, the type of legal protection to be provided to these Syrians needs to be determined. This determi-nation is important for the outlining of Turkey’s obligations vis-à-vis the Syrians on

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one hand, and for identifying the rights and obligations of the Syrians on the other hand. According to the Act No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection1, which was adopted on April 4, 2013 by the Turkish Parliament and was published on the Official Gazette on April 11, 2013, there are four types of international pro-tection to be provided to those who abandoned their country and fled into Turkey to take refuge:

(1) Refugee status

(2) Asylum seeker/conditional refugee status

(3) subsidiary protection status

(4) temporary protection status.

In this article, the types of international protection which are not applied to the Syrians in Turkey will firstly be explained, afterwards focus will be on the temporary protection status, which is applicable to the mass influx of Syrians into Turkey, and the legal status of those who escaped from the Syrian military.

2. Types of International Protection Which are Not available to the Syrians in Turkey 2.1. Unavailability of International Protection to the Syrians in Turkey Under “Refugee” Status

The concept of “refugee” is used to refer to the Syrians in Turkey. However, the Syrians in Turkey are not refugees. This is because a foreigner needs to come from Europe in order for that person to be granted refugee status. Turkey is party to the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Legal Status of Refugees2 and applies this Convention with a geographical restriction. Article 1A paragraph 2 of the 1951 Ge-neva Convention provides a definition of refugee. According to the 1951 Geneva Convention, the provisions of the convention will apply to any person who “as a result of events occurring in Europe before 1 January 1951 and owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of (1) race, (2) religion3, (3) nationality, (4) mem-bership of a particular social group4 or (5) political opinion, is outside the country

1. Act No. 6458, Date of Adoption: 4.4.2013, Official Gazette Date and No.: 11.4.2013/28615.2. Official Gazette Date and No.: 5.10.1961/10898.3. Jews fleeing from the Nazis, Muslims fleeing from Burma, Bahais migrating from Iran to other countries were granted refugee status because they were under the risk of persecution due to their faith (Guy S. GOODWIN-GILL/Jane McADAM The Refugee in International Law, 3rd edition, Oxford 2007, p. 71).4. In many states that are party to the 1951 Geneva Convention, homosexuals are accepted to be

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of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being out-side the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.” In order for refugee status to be granted to a foreigner, one of the five criteria must be satisfied, that person must fear that he will be subject to persecution, the fear of persecution must be well-founded, and that person must be outside of his country.

Persons who are not to be granted refugee status even though they fall under the definition of Article 1 (A) paragraph (2) are enumerated under Article 1 subpara-graph (F) in three groups. Those who will not be granted refugee status are as fol-lows: (1) those who have committed a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity, as defined in the international instruments drawn up to make pro-vision in respect of such crimes; (2) those who have committed a serious non-po-litical crime outside the country of refuge prior to their admission to that country as refugees; (3) those who are guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

During the period up to 1967, the 1951 Geneva Convention was applied with a “time limit”. This is because the definition of refugee included the statement “as a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951.” It was not possible to request ref-ugee status as a result of events occurring after 1 January 1951. Through the 1967 Protocol, which is additional to the Geneva Convention of 1951 and which was signed in New York and ratified by Turkey in 19685, the statement “events occurring before 1 January 1951” and “as a result of such events” was deleted from the text of the Convention. The 1967 Protocol, also known as the “New York Protocol” made the provisions of the 1951 Geneva Convention applicable to every person who falls under the definition of refugee without any time limit. Thus, the statement “events occurring before 1 January 1951,” which was a part of the 1951 Geneva Conven-tion, was deleted from the text of the Convention since the entry into force of the Protocol. States that are party to the 1951 Geneva Convention became party to the 1967 New York Protocol as well6. Therefore, in the application of the provisions of

members of a “particular social group”, and refugee status is granted to those who fled from their country for fear of being persecuted due to being homosexual (T. Alexander ALEINIKOFF Pro-tected Characteristics and Social Perceptions: An Analysis of the Meaning of “Membership of a Particular Group’, Refugee Protection in International Law Edt. Erika Feller/Volker Türk/Frances Nicholson, Cambridge 2003, p. 304.5. Official Gazette Date and No.: 5.8.1968/12968.6. For the states that are party to the 1951 Geneva Convention and the 1967 New York Protocol, see

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the Convention, states that are party to both the 1951 Geneva Convention and the 1967 New York Protocol may not impose a time limit as to the event which leads to refugee status. The date restriction became unenforceable since the 1967 New York Protocol gained binding character for the party states.

The first declaration made by Turkey in relation to the 1951 Geneva Conven-tion is the date restriction. This suggests that Turkey shall recognize refugee status

only as a result of events in Europe occurring before 1 January 1951. However, as discussed previously, the time limit has been abolished by the 1967 New York Protocol. As far as Turkey is concerned, the time limit has also been eliminated since the 1967 New York Protocol became binding on Turkey on 31.7.1968.

The second declaration by Turkey in relation to the 1951 Geneva Convention is that no provision of this Convention may be in-terpreted as granting to refugees greater rights than those accorded to Turkish cit-izens in Turkey.

The third declaration made by Turkey in relation to the 1951 Geneva Conven-tion concerns the “geographical limitation”/“territorial limitation”. Article 42 of the 1951 Geneva convention states that the party states may make reservations, at the time of signature, ratification, or accession, to articles of the Convention other than to articles 1, 3, 4, 16(1), 33, 36-46. Pursuant to this article, Turkey restricted the area of application for the 1951 Geneva Convention geographically. According-ly, Turkey will grant refugee status only to those coming from the European coun-tries. The 1951 Geneva Convention is applied with a geographical limitation on-ly by Congo, Madagascar, Monaco and Turkey. Apart from these four states, those countries that ratified the 1951 Geneva Convention with a geographic limitation later abolished that restriction. Other western countries, particularly the European Union want Turkey to lift the geographical limitation imposed on the 1951 Geneva Convention and to treat those coming from outside of Europe as refugees as well.

When ratifying the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Legal Status of Refugees, Tur-key reserved the geographical limitation and the declaration that the rights granted to refugees by the 1951 Geneva Convention may not be more than those rights ac-corded to Turkish citizens. However, as of 31.7.1968 on which the 1967 New York

Nuray EKŞİ, Mültecilere ve Sığınmacılara İlişkin Mevzuat, İstanbul 2010, p. 22-30.

The 1951 Geneva Convention is applied

with a geographical limitation only by

Congo, Madagascar, Monaco and Turkey.

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Protocol became binding on Turkey, it became impossible for Turkey to implement the time limitation. The declaration annexed to the Act Relating to the Ratifica-tion of the 1951 Geneva Convention states that refugee status will be granted as a result of the “events occurring in Europe before 1 January 1951”. In ratifying the 1967 Protocol, Turkey accepted to grant refugee status due to “events occurring in Europe” while removing the time limitation in accordance with the Protocol. Thus, regardless of the date on which the events requiring the grant of refugee status oc-cur, those coming from Europe will be granted refugee status within the scope of the 1951 Geneva Convention. Because Turkey applies the 1951 Geneva Conven-tion with a geographical limitation, the Syrians are not refugees.

For a foreigner to be accepted as a refugee by Turkey, the below conditions must be satisfied:

(1) the events leading to a foreigner’s refugee status must have taken place in European,

(2) the foreigner applying for refugee status must fear of being persecuted for reasons of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion

(3) the foreigner’s fear of persecution must be well-founded

(4) the foreigner applying for refugee status must be outside of his country

(5) the foreigner applying for refugee status must be unable to avail himself of the diplomatic protection of his country, or be unwilling to avail due to such fear.

The Syrians do not fall under the definition of refugee because they come non-Eu-ropean, and because they fled not due to fear of being persecuted by reason of their race, religion, nationality, and membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, but due to armed attacks aimed at changing the government regime.

2.2 Unavailability of International Protection to the Syrians in Turkey Under “Asylum Seeker” Status

Under the Turkish law, the legal regime that applies to those who come from non-Europe and who are seeking to take refuge is governed by a regulation. The Regulation on the Procedures and Principles to be Applied to Foreign Individuals Who Took Refuge in Turkey or Who Demand Residence Permit from Turkey to Take Ref-uge in a Different Country, to Foreigners Who Arrived at Turkish Borders in Masses

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to Seek Asylum, and to Possible Population Movements7 entered into force in 1994. Since the Regulation has a long name, it is shortly called as the “Regulation on Ref-ugees and Migration” or “the 1994 Regulation”. The purpose of the 1994 Regula-tion is to determine the procedures and principles to be applicable to foreign per-sons who individually took refuge in Turkey or who request residence permit to take refuge in different countries, to foreigners who arrived at Turkish borders in masses to take refuge or to seek asylum, and to possible population movements, as well as to determine the authorized organizations (the 1994 Regulation article 1). Within the scope of the 1994 Regulation, only those who come from Europe have been accepted as “refugee”; while those who come from non-Europe have been ac-cepted as “asylum seeker”.

The 1994 Regulation has been drawn up on the basis of the 1951 Geneva Con-vention and the 1967 Protocol. However, the scope of application of the 1994 Reg-ulation is wider in comparison with the 1951 Geneva Convention because the 1994 Regulation imposes provisions not only targeted towards refugees, but also towards asylum seekers and population movements. The 1951 Geneva Convention, as its name suggests, governs only refugees.

The 1994 Regulation adopted the definition of refugee from the 1951 Geneva Convention verbatim. Under the 1994 Regulation, those who come from outside of Europe are asylum seekers even if they satisfy the conditions included in the refugee definition. Within the context of the 1994 Regulation, in order for a foreigner who request international protection to be treated as an asylum seeker, that person (1) must come from a country outside of Europe and (2) satisfy the conditions includ-ed in the refugee definition. Under the 1994 Regulation, asylum seekers are granted temporary residence permits to stay in Turkey until they find a safe third country.

There are three differences between a “refugee” and an “asylum seeker”. Firstly, refugee status is granted due to events occurring in Europe, while the asylum seek-er status is granted due to events occurring outside of Europe. Secondly, those who obtain asylum seeker status are resettled in a safe third country. Thirdly, those who have obtained asylum seeker status are granted a temporary residence permit to stay in Turkey until they have been resettled in a third country.

Even though the concept of asylum seeker in international law generally refers to a foreigner who has filed a refugee application and is waiting for the paperwork to be completed, the concept of asylum seeker in the Turkish foreigners’ law has a dif-

7. Official Gazette Date and No.: 30.11.1994/22127.

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ferent meaning. From the perspective of the Turkish foreigners’ law, the concept of asylum seeker refers to a foreigner who satisfies the conditions included in the refu-gee definition, but who comes from a country outside of Europe and is given a tem-porary residence permit until a safe third country has been found. In fact, foreigners that come from non-Europe also file refugee applications; however, those who come from outside of Europe are not referred to as refugees due to the geographical limita-tion maintained by Turkey on the 1951 Geneva Convention. Instead, the concept of asylum seeker is used to refer to them. In the Code on Foreigners and International Protection, which is shortly known as “the FIP”, those who come from non-Europe are referred to as “conditional refugee” instead of asylum seeker.

The European Court of Human Rights ( “the EctHR”) considered in the A.G. et al v. Turkey judgment8, whether Turkey’s application of the Geneva Convention with a geographical limitation and treatment of those coming from outside of Europe as asylum seekers to fall under the prohibition of discrimination. The A.G. judgment held that Turkey’s distinction between refugees coming from outside of Europe and other countries, treatment of those coming from outside of Europe as asylum seekers, allowing these people to stay in Turkey on a temporary residence permit for a brief period of time, and deportation of those who fail to find a safe third country does not violate article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights through caus-ing ancestry and race discrimination. According to article 14 of the ECHR, which is the basis of the AG judgment, enjoyment of the rights and liberties enshrined in the convention must be provided to all without discrimination in terms of gender, race, color, language, religion, political or other opinion, social and ethnic origin, and membership of a certain minority, ownership, birth or having another status. According to the EctHR, in restricting the scope of application of the Convention geographically and stating that refugee status will be granted to only those who come from Europe, Turkey exercised the power accorded to Turkey under the 1951 Gene-va Convention. However, Turkey provides temporary residence permit to those who come from non-European countries, for humanitarian reasons, within the scope of asylum seeker status until they go to a safe third country. The EctHR held that this position of Turkey does not violate article 14 of the European Convention of Hu-man Rights. This issue is related to Turkey’s refugee and asylum seeker policy. The

8. European Court of Human Rights First Section A.G. and Others v. Turkey (Application No. 40229/98) Strasbourg 15 June 1999. For detailed information see Nuray EKŞİ, Yabancılar Hukuku-na İlişkin Temel Konular, 4. baskı, İstanbul 2012, p. 11; Nuray EKŞİ, Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahke-mesi Abdolkhani ve Karimnia v. Türkiye Davası, Mülteci ve Sığınmacı Hukuku Açısından Değer-lendirme, Istanbul 2010, p. 32-34

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possibility of granting refugee status to only those who come to Turkey from Eu-rope is provided by the 1951 Geneva Convention and the 1967 New York Protocol.

It was mentioned before that an asylum seeker must not only come from non-Eu-rope but must fall within the scope of the definition of the refugee in the 1951 Ge-neva Convention. The definition included in the 1951 Geneva Convention article 1A(2) has four main elements. The first one of these is that the applicant must be outside the borders of his own country. The second is that the applicant must worry and fear that he will be persecuted. The third is that the applicant’s worries must be related to one or more of the causes enshrined in the definition in the convention which are race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a certain social group. The fourth is that the worries of the applicant in connection with the causes stated in the Convention must be well-founded. The Syrians were not subject to an actual threat of persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opin-ion, or membership of a certain social group. They initiated an armed movement in order to change the political regime of the country. Those who fled the armed conflict between the Syrian Government’s army and the opponents of the regime cannot be accepted as asylum seekers.

2.3. Unavailability of Subsidiary/Complementary Protection to the Syrians

Subsidiary or complementary protection is governed by article 63 of the Code on Foreigners and International Protection. According to this Article, a foreign or stateless person who cannot be designated as a refugee or conditional refugee but who, if he is sent back to his country of origin or residence, will be sentenced to death penalty or will be executed, or will be subject to torture, inhumane or humiliating punishment or treatment, or in case of international or nationwide armed conflict, who is unable to avail himself of the protection of his country of origin or residence because he would face serious threat against his person due to indiscriminatory vi-olence movements, or is unwilling to avail due to such threat, is granted subsidiary protection status following the status determination proceedings. Subsidiary pro-tection, just as refugee and conditional refugee status, has an individual character. In other words, it does not apply to mass influx cases.

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3. availability of “Temporary Protection” to the Syrians in Turkey 3.1. Meaning and Scope of the Concept of “Temporary Protection”

“Temporary Protection” is the type of protection provided to those foreigners who were forced to leave their country, who are unable to return to their country, and who have arrived in masses in order to seek urgent and temporary protection. The European Union drew up a directive relating to temporary protection in 2001. Ac-cording to the Council Directive on the Minimum Standards for Giving Temporary Protection in the Event of a Mass Influx of Displaced Persons and on Measures Pro-moting a Balance of Efforts between Member States in Receiving Such Persons and Bearing the Consequences thereof9, known as the “Temporary Protection Directive” for short, the status of temporary protection is given to (1) persons who have fled areas of armed conflict or endemic violence, or (2) persons at serious risk of, or who have been the victims of, systematic or generalized violations of their human rights.

Provision of temporary protection to the mass influx of displaced people have been brought on the agenda of the EU since the period of Former Yugoslavian civil war from 1992-1993. The EU focused on temporary protection once again in 1999 due to the events occurring in Kosovo. At the EU Council meeting in Tampere in 1999, the need for uniformity among member states regarding their practices for the provision of temporary protection to the mass influx of displaced people was stat-ed10. The EU Council drew up the Temporary Protection Directive in 2001. Tem-porary protection lasts for 1 year unless it is terminated due to reasons stated in the Directive. The duration of temporary protection may be extended automatically by six monthly periods for a maximum of one year. (art 4 of the Temporary Protection Directive). The baseline is to ensure the voluntary return of persons whose tempo-rary protection has ended. If that person does not return voluntarily, the member state may take the required measures to send him back to his country (art 21-22 of the Temporary Protection Directive)11. Article 28 of the Temporary Protection Di-

9. Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting a balance of efforts between member states in receiving such persons and bearing the consequences thereof, OJ L212 7.8.2001 p. 12-23.10. Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting a balance of efforts between member states in receiving such persons and bearing the consequences thereof, OJ L212 7.8.2001, paragraph 3-7, p. 12.11. Nuray EKŞİ, Yabancılar ve Uluslararası Koruma Kanunu (Tasarısı), İstanbul 2012, p. 118-120.

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rective states the conditions under which the EU member states may exclude a per-son from the scope of temporary protection. According to this article, those who have committed a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity, as defined in the international instruments drawn up to make provision in respect of such crimes; who have committed a serious non-political crime outside the Member State of reception prior to his or her admission to that Member State as a person en-joying temporary protection; who have been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations; and for whom there are reasonable grounds to be regarded as a danger to the security of the host Member State, may not avail of temporary protection.

3.2. Conditions for the Availability of “Temporary Protection” to the Syrians

Temporary protection is provided in cases of mass influx of people and was first governed at a statutory level in Turkish law by the Act on Foreigners and Interna-tional Protection (“FIP”). The work on this Act began in 2009 by the Ministry of Interior Bureau of Immigration and Refugees, after which the Act was forwarded to the Turkish Parliament in May 2012, and was passed by the Parliament in April 2013. Additionally, because Turkey has periodically faced mass influxes of people, a regulation governs the proceedings and measures to be taken in regard to the arrival at or transgression of the Turkish borders by refugees and asylum seekers in masses. The 1994 Regulation does not refer to “temporary protection” but articles 8-26 of the 1994 Regulation governs the protection to be provided to foreigners who arrive at the Turkish borders in masses. The starting point for the 1994 Regulation was the idea that a buffer zone should be formed in case of mass influx of people, based on the past experiences. As a matter of fact, article 8 of the 1994 Regulation provides that the baseline is to stop population movements at the border and prevent the transgression of borders by refugees, taking account of the territorial advantages of the population movement, without prejudice to Turkey’s obligations resulting from international law and unless a political decision was made to suggest otherwise. Au-thorities take the necessary and effective measures in relation to the mass influx of people. Refugees and asylum seekers who arrive at or transgress the Turkish borders in masses are first disarmed by military authorities. Afterwards, at a suitable location on the border, members of the belligerent foreign military personnel and civilians are separated from each other, followed by the determination of their identifications. Civilians among them are handed over to the police or gendarmerie authorities so that they can be sent to the camps to be established (The 1994 Regulation art. 9).

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The concentration zones for the accommodation of refugees and asylum seekers are coordinated by the Presidency of General Staff. The Ministry of Interior deter-mines the place where they will be located, which is to be as close to the border as possible. Finally, they are established by the Governors’ Offices (The 1994 Regula-tion art. 11). Interviews are made with and testimonies are obtained from the for-eigners who are sent to the concentration zones. The language of the interviews is their own language or a language they understand. During the interviews they are obligated to report their names, last names, place and date of their birth, what sta-tus they had in their countries, the reason why they arrived in Turkey, whether they have relatives or friends in Turkey or outside of Turkey, and if they do what address they reside at. Furthermore, their photographs and finger prints are taken, which are then classified according to their nationalities. Due care is taken to separate terror-ists, broachers of peace and security, intriguers, spies and saboteurs. Due care is also taken to settle the refugees and asylum seekers in compliance with their traditions and practices to the extent possible. They are given an identification document by the relevant Governor’s Office and their identities are entered in the state register. The documents showing the register of those who are sought by international or-ganizations are given to the Red Crescent (Kızılay) upon demand (the 1994 Regu-lation art. 12). The 1994 Regulation governs the camp visits by the representatives of foreign governments and international organizations, freedom of religion at the camps, provision of health examinations, death and burial matters, acceptance of foreign aid, ensuring discipline and administration of the camps.

Temporary protection is governed by article 96 of the Code on Foreigners and International Protection12. According to this article, temporary protection may be provided to foreigners who arrive at or transgress the Turkish borders in masses in order to find urgent and temporary protection, and who were forced to leave their countries and are unable to return to the country they came from. Temporary pro-tection is only available in cases of mass events. In order for temporary protection to be provided, foreigners (1) must have been forced to leave their country in mass-

12. Temporary ProtectionArticle 91– (1) Temporary protection may be provided to those foreigners who were forced to leave their country, are unable to return to the country they left, and arrived at or transgressed the Turk-ish borders in masses to seek urgent and temporary protection.(2) Acceptance of these people to Turkey, their stay in Turkey, rights and obligations, proceedings to be taken when they leave Turkey, measures to be taken against mass movements, cooperation and coordination between national and international authorities and organizations, and determining the duties and powers of authorities and organizations to work in the center and provinces shall be governed by a regulation to be issued by the Council of Ministers.

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es; (1) must be unable to return to the country they came from; (1) must be in need of urgent and temporary protection. Even though the Code on Foreigners and In-ternational Protection provides an outline of temporary protection, it was decided that the details of temporary protection calls for a regulation13.

3.3. Denial of Temporary Protection Status to the Syrians or Termination of Their Temporary Protection

Temporary protection provided to the Syrians may be terminated under certain circumstances. These circumstances are:

(1) End of the temporary protection period is a ground for the termination of the temporary protection.

(2) Even though Turkey provides temporary protection to the Syrians, the com-parative law including the European Union law requires that the persons enjoying temporary protection do not return to their countries in order for temporary protection to be applicable. However, as the media have also been covering, certain Syrians leave Turkey and engage in combat in Syria and ar-rive in Turkey again. There is no doubt that the temporary protection status ends for these Syrians as soon as they have voluntarily left Turkey.

(3) Furthermore, temporary protection status will also end if the conditions which allowed for the grant of temporary protection status are eliminated.

(4) Temporary protection status may be terminated for the Syrians who jeopar-dize Turkey’s security.

(5) Temporary protection status may also be denied to those Syrians who be-came involved in human rights violations and violent acts, or their tempo-rary protection status may be terminated.

3.4. Rights and Obligations of the Syrians Enjoying Temporary Protection Status in Turkey

Some of the Syrians have arrived in Turkey with a passport or equivalent, while some of them enter Turkey without any such documentation. Failure to bear a pass-port or equivalent documentation raises serious issues both from the point of deter-mining their identification, and determining whether they actually come from Syria and are in need of protection.

13. EKŞİ, Yabancılar ve Uluslararası Koruma Kanunu (Tasarısı), 120.

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In accordance with the provisions of the 1994 Regulation and the Directive Re-lating to the Accommodation of the Citizens of the Arab Republic of Syria and State-less Persons Residing in the Arab Republic of Syria Who Arrived in Turkey in Mass-es to Seek Refuge, which has been drawn up by the Ministry of Interior, the Syrians need to be accommodated at the camps, as a matter of principle. The data from the Prime Ministry, Presidency of Disaster and Emergency Management (AFAD) sug-gest that there are 11 tent cities, 1 temporary acceptance center and 1 container city have been established in Hatay, Şanlıurfa, Gaziantep Kahramanmaraş, and Kilis14. The Syrians may stay outside of these camps in exceptional cases. Syrians who have entered Turkey by way of the visa waiver program starting from 29.4.2011 may re-quest to stay outside the camps at their own expense. This is because, in accordance with the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Turkey and the Government of the Arab Republic of Syria for the Reciprocal Removal of the Visa Requirement, Syrians that hold official, ordinary passports are exempt from visa for a period of 90 days15. The list of documents that are valid within the scope of visa waiver for the citizens of the Arab Republic of Syria travelling to Turkey are stated in the annex of the agreement. Accordingly, Syrians holding a diplomatic passport, special passport, ordinary passport, service passport, seafarers’ ID, airline crewmem-ber ID, or railway crewmember ID are exempt from visa for up to 90 days.

Therefore, the Ministry of Interior may permit those Syrians who have entered Turkey with a passport to stay outside the camps for a period of 90 days. The Direc-tive provides that, as a matter of principle, those Syrians who will stay outside the camps shall obtain a residence permit after the 90-day period and reside in the in-dicated provinces. There are a total 51 satellite cities to which refugee and asylum applicants are sent. These provinces are as follows: Adana, Afyonkarahisar, Ağrı, Aksaray, Amasya, Bilecik, Burdur, Çankırı, Çorum, Erzurum, Eskişehir, Gazian-tep, Hakkari, Hatay, Isparta, Kahramanmaraş, Karaman, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Kırık-kale, Kırşehir, Konya, Kütahya, Mersin, Nevşehir, Niğde, Sivas, Şırnak, Tokat, Van, Yozgat, Çanakkale, Bolu, Uşak, Denizli, Yalova, Siirt, Balıkesir, Batman, Urfa, Kilis, Ardahan, Malatya, Kars, Iğdır, Düzce, Sakarya, Erzincan, Gümüşhane, Mardin, and

14. The data is valid for date when this paper was presented.15. Decision No: 2009/15684: ratification of the Agreement between the Government of the Re-public of Turkey and the Government of the Arab Republic of Syria for the Reciprocal Removal of the Visa Requirement, which was signed on 13 October 2009 and which is was decided by the Coun-cil of Ministers on 15.12.2009 upon the letter of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dated 6.11.2009 and numbered HUMŞ/1436, and in accordance with article 10 of the Passport Act No. 5682 and article 3 of the Act No. 244 dated 31.5.1963 (Official Gazette Date and No.: 23.12.2009/ 27441).

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Temporary protection may be denied to those

members of the opposition forces who have violated human rights or resorted to force against civilians.

Bayburt. Syrians who have been given temporary protection status and who live in camps are provided with subsistence, health, and education services free of charge.

3.5. Syrians Who Will Not Avail of Temporary Protection

The Syrians have arrived in Turkey due to an internal armed conflict. This armed conflict is between the Syrian army and the opposition forces. Some of the Syri-

ans who have applied for asylum resorted to force or were involved in violence in Syria. These Syrians justify their involvement in violence acts and resort to force in terms of their right to self-determina-tion and their political views. Whether those Syr-ians who resorted to force (regardless of the scope and nature of such force) and who were involved in violence acts will each avail of temporary protec-

tion or not, needs to be evaluated specially. Temporary protection may be denied to those members of the opposition forces who have violated human rights or re-sorted to force against civilians.

4. legal Status of the Syrian Military Personnel in Turkey

It must be stated that the Act No. 4104 on Belligerent Foreign Military Person-nel Who Took Refuge in Turkey, which entered into force in 1941, will not apply to those who fled the Syrian army and arrived in Turkey. This is because the concept of “belligerent foreign military personnel” is defined in article 4(a) of the Regulation on Belligerent Foreign Military Personnel Who Have been Accepted to Turkey16. Accordingly, belligerent foreign military personnel refers to a military man who has been accepted to the country or have been captured in the country, whose affiliated armed forces are engaged in a war or armed conflict with a third county. Thus, the concept of belligerent military personnel requires that the armed conflict be between two different states. A similar definition exists in article 3 of the 1994 Regulation. According to article 3 of the 1994 Regulation, member of belligerent foreign mil-itary refer to a military man who has been accepted to or captured in the country and whose affiliated armed forces is engaged in a war or armed conflict with a third country. Those who fled the Syrian military forces and arrived in Turkey are not in a state of war or armed conflict with a third country. On the contrary, they are in a

16. Official Gazette Date and No.: 7.11.1995/22456.

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Those who fled the Syrian military forces and arrived in Turkey are not in a state of war or armed conflict with a third country. On the contrary, they are in a state of armed conflict with their own people. Therefore, Syrian military men, just as civilians, will avail of temporary protection if the conditions have been satisfied.

state of armed conflict with their own people. Therefore, Syrian military men, just as civilians, will avail of temporary protection if the conditions have been satisfied.

5. The Issue of Whether to Deport those Syrians Who Breach Public Security

It is possible to terminate the temporary protection of those Syrians who jeopar-dize Turkey’s security, and to deport them. In case the Syrians who violate the pub-lic security and public order are deported from Turkey, such deportation needs to be considered within the scope of the prohibition of “non-refoulement”. Non-re-foulement is a concept referring to the obligation to not return a foreigner to a coun-try where his life and liberty will be threatened due to his race, religion, nationali-ty, membership of a social group, or political opinions. Syrians have fled into Tur-key in masses. As discussed previously, protection provided in case of mass influx of people is temporary protection. It is necessary to determine whether or not the principle of non-re-foulement will be applied in cases of mass influx of people and in case of resulting temporary protec-tion. Even though some have contended that the prohibition of non-refoulement will not apply in case of mass influx, it has been stated that the princi-ple of non-refoulement will apply to those who have arrived as a result of mass influx and those who have been given temporary protection not only because it was introduced for humanitarian reasons and also because it is a fundamental principle17.

Turkey is obligated to apply the principle of non-refoulement to all foreigners regardless of where they come from, notwithstanding the geo-graphical restriction. This is because the principle of non-refoulement is not only the cornerstone of the 1951 Geneva Convention but it is also accepted to be characterized as an international rule of custom and tradition18. Moreover, Turkey has ratified several international treaties that accept

17. Elihu LAUTERPACHT/Daniel BETHLEHEM, The Scope and Content of the principle of Non-refoulement: Opinion, Refugee Protection in International Law Edt. Erika Feller/Volker Türk/Frances Nicholson, Cambridge 2003, p. 119-121.18. Guy S. GOODWIN-GILL/Jane MCADAM, The Refugee in International Law, 3rd edition,

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Widespread conviction that the opposition

forces in Syria fight for their democratic rights and self-determination has also been affirmed by the United Nations

statements.

the principle of non-refoulement. Therefore, if the principle of non-refoulement is not applied to foreigners coming from outside of Europe, there will be a violation of not only an international rule of custom and tradition, but also of the treaties Turkey has ratified19.

Conclusion

Apart from Turkish aliens offices, the Office of the United Nations High Com-missioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which has been in operation in Turkey since 1960, is the authority for the proceedings of determining refugee status. Furthermore, it provides support in terms of resettlement of asylum seekers from non-Europe in safe third countries. UNHCR does not assume the duty of protection which is to be provided by the state. As a matter of fact, the office does not take any proceed-ings regarding the Syrians because Turkey duly provides protection to these Syrians. Both the UNCHR’s Geneva headquarters and the UNCHR’s delegation to Turkey have underlined that the protection provided by Turkey to the Syrians is satisfactory.

Also not to be overlooked is some issues regarding the legal status of the Syrians in Turkey. First and foremost, setting forth the nature of the armed conflict between

the Syrian military and the opposition forces is al-so of importance for determining whether the Syr-ians will be provided protection or not. There is no rule in the law of nations that prohibits states from preventing armed attacks occurring within its own borders using proportionate force and without vi-olating human rights. On the contrary, a legitimate government is required to continue its legitimacy and ensure effective control in a country. Likewise, there is no norm in the law of nations that prevents

groups in pursuit of self-determination from using weapons as long as they stick to the same principles, namely as long as they do not violate human rights and use dis-proportionate force. If the opposition forces in Syria are treated within the scope of self-determination from the point of the law of nations, then temporary protection will also be provided to those who become involved in the conflicts in Syria and en-

Oxford University Press 2007, s. 345-354; İsmail AKSEL, The Enforcement of the Principle of Non-refoulement in Cases Mass-influx, 1(2012)3 LJR p. 182.19. See for detailed information on non-refoulement prohibition and international treaties includ-ing this prohibition EKŞİ, Yabancılar Hukukuna İlişkin Temel Konular, 79-84.

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gaged in armed conflict. On the other hand, if the acts of the opposition forces are considered within the scope of uprisings against states, violent acts and similar acts within the framework of the law of nations, then the Syrians who became engaged in violent acts and armed conflict will not avail of temporary protection20. Wide-spread conviction that the opposition forces in Syria fight for their democratic rights and self-determination has also been affirmed by the United Nations statements.

As a matter of rule, persons who were forced to leave their country due to in-ternational or national armed conflicts, in other words “wartime refugees” are not provided protection pursuant to the 1951 Geneva Convention and the 1967 Pro-tocol pertaining to that convention. This is because these people are already pro-vided protection pursuant to the 1949 Geneva Conventions Relative to the Protec-tion of Civilian Persons in Time of War and the additional protocols pertaining to these conventions21. Turkey and Syria are party to the 1949 Geneva Conventions relative to the protection of civilian persons in time of war22. Even though Syria is party to the Protocol relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts-Protocol I, which is the first addition to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and was signed in 1977, Turkey is not. Anyhow, Protocol I relates to “international conflicts” and does not concern the state of affairs in Syria. The case

20. Stance to be taken by other states in case of civil strife is governed by the Convention on Duties and Rights of States in the Event of Civil Strife, 134 LNTS 45, which was signed on 20 February in 1928 in Havana and entered into force on 21 May 1929, and by the 1957 Protocol pertaining to that convention. Turkey and Syria are not party to the Convention and the Protocol. All states that are party to the agreement are liable to prevent support for the civil strife from their countries, sending of any weapon or war equipment, support of rioters through vessels; and to disarm rioters that enter their countries and internalize them. 21. Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Con-vention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees HCR/IP/4/Eng/REV.1 Reedited, Geneva, January 1992, UNHCR 1979, §167.22. There are four Geneva Conventions, and Turkey is party to all four of them. See the Act on the Ratification of the Geneva Conventions dated 12 August 1949 relating to the protection of war victims, Act No: 6020 Adopted on: 21.1.1953 (Official Gazette Date and No.: 30.1.1953/8322)Article 1- The below conventions which have been drawn up and signed during the diplomatic con-ference convened on 21 April 1949 in Geneva have been ratified: (1) First Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field dated 12 August 1949; (2) Second Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wound-ed, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea dated 12 August 1949; (3) Third Ge-neva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, dated 12 August 1949; (4) Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, dated 12 August 1949; (5) Final Act.Article 2- This Act enters into force on the date of its publication.Article 3- This Act is executed by the cabinet.

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in Syria is within the scope of the Protocol II, which is additional to the 1949 Ge-neva Conventions. However, Syria and Turkey are not party to the Protocol relat-ing to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts-Protocol II, which is additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and which was signed on 8 June 1977. If Syria and Turkey were party to this Protocol, it would be possible to provide humanitarian aid to the Syrians within the scope of this Proto-col. Additional Protocol II covers the victims of internal armed conflict between the military of a state and the armed opposition forces or other organized armed forc-es. Additional Protocol II does not apply in cases of civil strife and tensions such as insurgencies, violence acts and other similarly-characterized acts in a country. Ad-ditional Protocol II has been drawn up for humanitarian purposes; however, it was drafted in a way to strike a balance between the protection of human rights and the security of a state. However, the Additional Protocol II does not provide for a special status for persons to receive protection for humanitarian reasons such as temporary protection, subsidiary protection, or protection with similar labels. Furthermore, Additional Protocol II is without prejudice to the power of the party states to pun-ish those who became involved in armed conflict. Article 4 of the Additional Pro-tocol II provides that in order for humanitarian protection to be provided due to conflicts between the military of a state and armed forces of opposition, the person concerned must not have been involved or must have ceased involvement in conflicts. The scope of the humanitarian protection to be provided is stipulated in detail in articles 4-18 of the Additional Protocol II. In light of the above explanations, it is not possible to provide protection to the Syrians in Turkey within the scope of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the Protocols I and II which are additional to these Conventions.

The Syrians in Turkey may not be granted refugee status. This is because Turkey applies the 1951 Geneva Convention only to those who come from Europe. More-over, even if Turkey did not apply the 1951 Geneva Convention with a geograph-ical limitation, the Syrians do not fall under the refugee definition of article 1A of the 1951 Geneva Convention. Therefore, even without the geographical limitation, the Syrians in Turkey would not be given refugee status.

Turkey treats those who come from outside of Europe and seek to take refuge as “asylum seekers” or “conditional refugee”. However, under the 1994 Regulation, the Syrians cannot be given the status of asylum seeker either. This is because these people seeking refuge not only need to come from outside of Europe but also need to satisfy the conditions of the refugee definition under article 1A of the 1951 Ge-

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neva Convention. The Syrians have not arrived in Turkey because of well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. It must be noted that temporary protec-tion status may be denied to the Syrians who became engaged in conflict and armed acts in Syria, if they were involved in violent acts against civilians and applied dis-proportionate force. However, it is nearly impossible to make that determination due to the circumstances that currently prevail.

Turkey provides temporary protection to those Syrians who fled the armed con-flict between the opposition forces and the Syrian military, or who are risked seri-ously or victimized by widespread violence or systematic and general human rights violations. However, temporary protection status of the Syrians who voluntarily leave Turkey, regardless of the reason, will end. This is because in order for Turkey to be able to provide temporary protection to the Syrians, they must have ceased participating in conflicts. The Syrian children in Turkey have not been involved in conflicts. Those Syrians who were part of the opposition forces and later arrived in Turkey must have ceased participating in conflicts and armed acts after their arriv-al. If Turkey continues to provide temporary protection status to the Syrians who enter and exit Syria to engage in combat, this may cause interpretations that Syria’s internal affairs are being interfered with and indirect force is being used on Syria. The Nicaragua v. United States of America23 judgment of 1986 by the International Court of Justice held that America violated its obligation not to interfere with the internal affairs of another state, which is required by the law of international custom and tradition, and used indirect force on Nicaragua, by training opposition forces, providing them with equipment, financing, or otherwise supporting, encouraging and aiding the military and nonmilitary forces in Nicaragua. Turkey ratified the Charter of the United Nations in 194524. According to article 2 paragraph four of the Charter of the United Nations, UN members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations. There is no doubt that Turkey’s efforts are solely geared to-wards the establishment of a libertarian regime in Syria that is democratic and re-spectful of human rights in line with the wishes of the Syrian people. Conflict and

23. Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States of America) Merits, Judgment, ICJ Reports 1986, p. 14-140. For an evaluation on the judgment see Sevin TOLUNER, Nikaragua’ya Karşı Askerî ve Benzeri Faaliyetler Davasındaki Yargı ve Meşru Müdafaa Hakkı, Mahmut R. Belik’e Armağan, İstanbul 1993, p. 391-422.24. Official Gazette Date and No.: 24.8.1945/6092.

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chaos environment in a neighboring country takes a heavy economic and political toll on not only the country concerned but on Turkey as well, as experienced in the past. Additionally, no burden sharing took place as concerns the mass influx of Syr-ians into Turkey. It is about time for international organizations and other states to respond to the call by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for burden sharing and take action for effective burden sharing.

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The Aid Activities of Kimse Yok Mu Association with Regards to Syrian Refugees

CElAl türKoğluVICE CHAIRMAN OF KIMSE yOK Mu ASSOCIATION

Distinguished Guests,

Before I start my speech, I would like to greet everybody here on behalf of myself and the Foundation named Kimse Yok mu (Is anybody there) that I am a member of. I hope the black clouds over Syria will disappear immediately and next time we will be able to come together with our Syrian brothers and sisters in Damascus or Aleppo and embrace with them again in peace and well-being.

Before I talk about the aid given to our Syrian brothers and sisters by Kimse Yok Mu Foundation, I would like to mention the history of Kimse Yok Mu if I may. Leaving 9 years behind and having great aid organizations and activities in Turkey and abroad within its short history in comparison to the similar aid organizations in the world, the Foundation today has won our people’s hearts as a non-governmen-tal organization which has become prominent by providing direct economic and social aid to those in need in our country and also assistance for disasters, food aid, clothing support and educational assistance abroad, and with its projects particu-larly in the field of health in Africa. On one of the darkest days of our country, 17th of August, a desperate cry for help in the deep darkness which caused sorrow in the hearts of the volunteers coming from all parts of Turkey to the earthquake zone to help hundreds of thousands of people whose houses collapsed on them has never been erased from our memories. When this movement of goodness having begun spontaneously after Marmara earthquake started to bring relief and hope to those

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Kimse Yok Mu Foundation became a member of the United Nations Economic

and Social Council (UN ECOSOC) with Special

Consultative Status on 20 July 2010 owing to its

international aid activities.

in need from the TV screens, that cry for help, which has never been erased from the memories, became the name of the movement: Kimse Yok Mu?

Televised once a week, the programme reached out more and more audiences day by day and then calls for help and the donations of the benefactors became too

many to be on the television broadcasting. The in-creasing demands led Kimse Yok Mu foundation to grow and carry out international activities. That is why Kimse Yok Mu was incorporated in January, 2004 and Kimse Yok Mu Solidarity and Assistance Foundation was established. International aid ac-tivities started after the tsunami disaster destroying the ocean coasts of Indonesia in 2004. The follow-ing year Kimse Yok mu started a new aid campaign after the earthquake in Pakistan with great courte-sy of our people. The aid provided from all around

Turkey for our brothers and sisters, Pakistani people, was conveyed to that coun-try. The international assistance of our foundation continued with humanitarian aid campaigns organized for Palestine-Lebanon, Peru, Bangladesh, Sudan-Darfur, Georgia-Ossetia, Myanmar, China, Gaza and Haiti. On the other hand, 97 coun-tries were reached during the Ramadan and Sacrifice Periods and the assistance of Turkish people has gone beyond the continents.

The Foundation accelerated branching and organization works in 2006. As of today, our foundation has 40 branches all around Turkey with the branches recent-ly opened.

Kimse Yok Mu Foundation gained the status of “Public Interest Foundation” with the Decree of the Council of Ministers No 2006-9982 dated 19.01.2006 and was granted “The Grand National Assembly of Turkey Outstanding Service Award” on 10.08.2008. It became a member of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UN ECOSOC) with Special Consultative Status on 20 July 2010 owing to its inter-national aid activities.

The mission of our Foundation can be summarized as:

• to find urgent and permanent solutions for those in need in our country and abroad and help them with attention to protect their dignity without dis-crimination based on religion, language, race and gender by activating the aid values of the society;

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• to ensure support, different projects, organizations, structures and settlements required to be developed for these solutions, improvements and to cooperate;

• to trigger philanthropic feelings towards not only Turkish citizens but also various countries and societies calling for help in the disaster periods and to provide help with well-trained and high-qualified team, equipment and vol-unteers by representing our country at the highest level;

to be a goodwill delegate between those in need and the donors for the global peace, justice and unity.

kimse yok Mu and refugees

Before giving information about our aid activities for the Syrian refugees in our country and in the neighbouring countries of Syria, I would like to touch upon some activities conducted by Kimse Yok mu for the refugees in general.

Our Foundation carries out activities all around the world so as to relieve the ref-ugees who are the victims of natural disasters or wars regardless of religion, language and race. The refugees are provided with firstly food aid and then various humanitar-ian aid such as accommodation, clothing, medical care and sanitation. Also, regard-ing heath services, voluntary doctors and medical personnel conduct activities with significant contributions so as to prevent diseases that might arise from unsuitable conditions. I think that we should definitely remember our “Orhaniye” project in Sudan Darfur when we talk about aid provided for the refugees by Kimse Yok Mu.

In Darfur where 180.000 people died and about 2 million people became home-less according to the explanations of UN, the number of people killed in the inner conflicts was declared as 300.000 in the England Parliamentary Report. Providing food and accommodation aid for the refugees, our Foundation also tried to deliver medical care with our voluntary doctors to the refugees in Darfur, where more than 2 million people became homeless. The first big project developed for the refugees by Kimse Yok mu started in Sudan Darfur. A town project including a health care centre, a mosque, a police station and a school was developed so as to help the refu-gees and those having lost their homes in a small town called “Şenci” near Nyala, the capital of South Darfur State, to go back their homes and build up a new life, and the construction started with support of the volunteers and philanthropists. While the project was put into practice by sections, the name of Şenci Town was changed into Orhaniye by the local authorities. As the activities of Kimse Yok Mu for the refugees in Somali make a topic for another report, for now it is sufficient to say that there

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are camps and medical centres built up in Somali by Kimse Yok Mu and the con-struction of a general hospital, school, soup kitchen and orphanage still continues.

The arab Spring and kimse yok Mu

When the conflicts between the opponent movement and the current regime dragged Libya into the civil war, it is possible to say that Kimse Yok Mu had already met the hot winds of the Arab Spring, which devastated the hearts of people, long before Syria. Kimse Yok Mu, which is a voluntary movement of goodness reach-ing out from Turkey to the world, became one of the first non-governmental or-ganizations which provided assistance from our country to those countries which were dragged into the atmosphere of conflict and chaos after the civil commotion started against the oppressive practices of the current political regimes in the Ar-ab countries. The protests giving a deep shock to the entire Arab world started at first when an unemployed young man named Muhammed Buazizi burned him-self in Tunisia owing to many problems such as, primarily, unemployment, food inflation, political corruption, freedom of speech, unlawfulness and the bad liv-ing conditions.

With a domino effect, the protests spread to the other countries experiencing sim-ilar problems. The protest demonstrations encouraged by the opponent movements beginning to develop first in Tunisia on 18 December 2010 spread to Egypt, Ye-men, Algeria and Jordan later. The opponent movements beginning with the protest demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt resulted in resignation of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had been ruling the country for 23 years in Tunisia, and of Hosni Mubarek, who had also been ruling Egypt for more than 30 years, and caused bloody conflicts in Libya lasting more than one year. The country was dragged into a civil war and the bloody conflicts ended with capture and murder of Kaddafi, who had ruled the country for many years, by the opponents. Owing to the deep-rooted connections and unity of belief throughout the history, our people followed the developments in Libya with great concern while Kimse Yok Mu provided assistance for thousands of Libyan refugees who had to escape from their countries and shelter in the neigh-bouring countries. While Kimse Yok Mu provided food aid for thousands of Libyan people escaping from their country and then taking refuge in Tunisia, our voluntary doctors went to Tunisia and gave medical care to the Libyan refugees.

As you all know, one of the countries, where the opponent winds starting with innocent protest demonstrations but strengthening everyday due to the severe mea-

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A great aid campaign for the Syrian refugees was launched all around Turkey with the slogan “Have you ever been stateless while you actually have one”.

sures of the current governments blow hardest, is Syria. According to the United Na-tions, 60,000 people were killed in the conflicts in this country fast beside us until January 2013. In addition, more than 700,000 thousand people escaped from Syr-ia as a refugee. Almost not a single solid building is left in Homs, Aleppo, Al-Ras-tan and many more cities.

The Arab Spring, starting with the revolution in Tunisia in January 2011, reached to Syria in the mid-March 2011. Since then the conflicts between the military units, intelligence services and pro-regime loyal militias chosen by the Syrian Government under the leadership of Bashar Assad and the armed units of the Syrian opponents have been going on. Like all over the world, those damaged by the conflicts most are the civilians composed of mostly women, children and the elderly people. The num-ber of people who are damaged and have to abandon their homes and countries due to the intense conflicts has increased rapidly. While the cities of the country were being bombed by its own soldiers, the people had to escape from their own armies and soldiers in their own country. Thousands of people have abandoned their hous-es and escaped to the neighbouring countries.

kimse yok Mu in lebanon and Jordan for the Syrian refugees

While our government mobilizes almost all the resources for the Syrian refugees in our country, those who had to take refuge in Jordan and Lebanon have to face more severe conditions due to the limited resources of these countries. While the refugees in Lebanon and Jordan go to their relatives at first, many refugees become forlorn.

Kimse Yok Mu started its first activities of aid for the Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. In the first months of 2012, a delegation was sent to Jordan to make contacts by our Foundation so as to deliver aid to the Syrian refugees. Having had talks with the official authorities and Hashemi Charity in Jordan, the places to be provided with aid were determined and the first aid of Kimse Yok Mu was delivered to the refugees in Ma-fraq region, Jordan in April 2012. A great aid campaign for the Syrian refugees was launched all around Turkey with the slogan “Have you ever been stateless while you actually have one”. While our people showed great interest in this campaign, aid was delivered to the Syrian refugees in Lebanon as well as Jordan in a very short time.

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In the Ramadan and Sacrifice periods of the same year, the aid continued to be delivered to the refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. Thousands of Syrian refugees, who had to spend the Ramadan Feast away from their homes for the first time, were made happy with food aid and gifts given by Kimse Yok Mu. In the Feast of Sacrifice, the meat of sacrificial animals, which were sacrificed in the name of our benefactors, was delivered to the refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. The aid provided for the Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon and in our country exceeded 12.5 million Ameri-can Dollars by December 2012.

kimse yok Mu for the refugees in Turkey

While our aid activities continue in Jordan and Lebanon, the number of the ref-ugees in Turkey has increased. According to the official records, 289.739 Syrian cit-izens in total entered into our country by 12 April 2013. It is also stated that besides the official numbers, a lot more Syrians have taken refuge in our country (approxi-mately 200 000 people in the camps and 200 000 people outside the camps through their own means). A lot of Syrians who settled down near their relatives living in our border cities try to live on without the support of the government under severe conditions. While our branches in the region provide aid individually for the Syri-ans living under these conditions in our cities at Syrian border, our Foundation has focused on the aid activities for the Syrian refugees in Turkey since the second half of 2012. Within the scope of our activities, 24 portable toilets, 30 portable bath-rooms, 10 garbage containers were sent to Kilis for the use of refugees. In addition, a playground was built for the refugee children. 1000 people a day have hot meal at the mobile soup kitchen established by Gaziantep Branch of Kimse Yok mu.

The refugees staying in the camps receive medical care thanks to the medical care centre opened for the Syrian refugees in Kilis by Kimse Yok Mu. 10 personnel com-posing of two doctors from Syria, two nurses and two chemists work at our medical centre and 150 refugees a day on average are treated. Small surgical operations are also made in our medical centre.

Our aid to Syrian People

While continuing to provide aid for the Syrian refugees in Turkey, the operations have also started to deliver aid to the people who cannot find the opportunity to leave Syria or become a refugee in Syria and aid has been delivered to Syria, where the conflicts still go on, by our Foundation. Financial contributions and contributions

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in kind given to our branches in our country within the scope of our Syria Cam-paign continue to be delivered to the Syrian people in need beyond our borders in the form of various assistances, particularly as food aid, under the coordination of our Gaziantep Branch. More than 180 trucks of aid materials were delivered to the Syrian war victims and continue to be delivered with the support of our branches.

Our branches have been organizing local aid campaigns for the Syrian refugees in the cities at Syrian border and nearby cities. For instance, our Kahramanmaraş Branch launched a project named “One carpet from you” and more than 500 carpets donated to the project were sent to the Syrians by our branch. Our Gaziantep Branch delivers the clothing support provided by its own means in the cities of that region to the Syrian refugees regularly. Under the coordination of our headquarters, Kimse Yok Mu organizes aid campaigns all around Turkey and also our branches provide help for the Syrian people with the projects and campaigns they have developed.

Our Foundation has been supporting the campaign entitled “Some bread and a blanket for Syria” launched jointly by hundreds of non-governmental organiza-tions in Turkey since the beginning. In addition to the Foundation’s support with-in the scope of this aid movement launched with the common initiative of many non-governmental organizations in our country, the aid for Syria only provided by Kimse Yok Mu exceeded US 15 million. While our people competing for charity show that they support the Syrian people, we are trying to be the messenger of the feelings of our people as non-governmental organizations and continue to deliver aid to the refugees both in our country and the neighbouring countries on all occasions.

Remember the days before the conflicts started in Syria. Just as the images of the people who exchanged bayram greetings through the wire fence from the dif-ferent sides of the border were erased from the memories and the foreign ministers of these two countries removed the barriers at the border gates, suddenly brother Syria was involved in Arab Spring. While they were burning out we were devastated with grief of despair. Our only hope and wish for the future is that these conflicts casting a cloud on the joy of the people, who were apart for many years in the same geography but then became happy to get to know each other again, will end in Syr-ia, the Syrian people will regain health and peace and these two neighbours resume their uncompleted meeting.

I am paying my respects to you.

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SECTION III

The New Legislation: Law on Foreigners and

International Protection

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The Role of Civil Society in the Field of Asylum, Situation in the Satellite Cities and Syrian Refugees in Turkey

TaNEr kIlIçATTorney-AT-lAW, chAirmAn of The boArd, AssociATion for solidAriTy WiTh refugees (mülTeci-der), rePresenTs The refugee righTs coordinATion (mhk)

The role of Civil Society in the Field of refugee

The right to asylum is an important application regardless of time and geography and it is an important rule in the customary law. It is enshrined as a fundamental and first-generation human right in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), one of the earliest conventions of the United Nations (UN). Tur-key is among the drafting countries and currently a member of the executive com-mittee and it has a relatively good history in this area. However, the right to asylum has not enjoyed the interest it has deserved in the country. Even the main actors in-cluding the legislative, executive and the judiciary are not properly informed of and interested in the field of asylum.

Globally, the main actors in the asylum arena include universities, local govern-ments, professional organizations, religious communities, unions and certainly Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in addition to the public agencies and the UN Refu-gee Agency (UNHCR). However, it would not be quite unfair to say that the civil society, like the other actors, is far behind the expected level. The civil society and its human resources have flourished during the past decade. The quality of knowl-edge and debates in the civil society is beyond comparison with the past. Activities in the field, particularly those of public institutions and UNHCR are monitored more vigorously and lobbying and campaigning is better. However, these are still not

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On the other hand, the refugees have not taken

recourse in CSOs in those cities as they did not know the language

or the functioning of the Turkish administrative

system. Besides, they had been running away from traumatizing conditions and were weak and not

encouraged to seek help.

enough. In my opinion, the civil society in Turkey is doing only 10 per cent of what it can do in this field. Nevertheless, the civil society’s enhanced knowledge, experi-ence and resources and willingness indicates that it can undertake a more active role in the area of refugees and asylum in the near future.

It is necessary to look at the organizations of rights and humanitarian relief when considering the interest of the civil society in Turkey in the field asylum. The attitude of these organiza-tions which are supposed to stand closer to refugees has considerably improved in the past decade. Vio-lations of the refugee rights have become a subject of only the recent annual reports on human rights prepared for these organizations. But, this has not been pursued regularly and properly across years. Furthermore, legal assistance was not provided at all or effectively to people in need of international protection in the country. The need for increased capacity in the field of asylum and migration was hardly felt amid the ever busy political agenda. The national humanitarian relief organizations in Turkey

took a longer time in recognizing and aiding refugees in different cities than their international peers

Parallel to this delayed action on the part of rights and humanitarian relief orga-nizations, other and general CSOs have been indifferent to this field until recently. Organizations for women, children, disability, religious communities and mosque associations have not had any activity in this area. On the other hand, Christian relief organizations which are few in number but which have international know-how and experience have long been active in the field. However, professional orga-nizations like bar associations and medical societies and unions have not taken any noteworthy initiatives in Turkey despite their important and effective work abroad. Such organizations are still distant to this field.

In the course of asylum procedures, refugees who were sent to designated Anato-lian cities on free residential permit have had a hard time. The “satellite cities” where “outsider foreigners” were not welcome have usually kept at a distance, thinking that they were taken care of well by sending agencies (UN or the Turkish government) and that they were given a lot of money. Therefore, virtually no one looked after the problems of these people about accommodation, healthcare, education and psycho-

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social problems. On the other hand, the refugees have not taken recourse in CSOs in those cities as they did not know the language or the functioning of the Turkish administrative system. Besides, they had been running away from traumatizing con-ditions and were weak and not encouraged to seek help.

Having noticed that almost CSO was working with refugees in Turkey, UNHCR Turkey took an initiative. This civil society initiative, “UNHCR implementing part-ners” was taken in good faith to fill in a significant gap in this field. This means that the Turkish civil society has not much in this field until recently. Lately, associations and foundations, religious charities, mosque associations and humanitarian relief organizations started to develop an interest and work in this field.

The Refugee Rights Coordination (RRC) was born out of this civil society con-cern which operates independently from the government and intergovernmental agencies like the UN. The Coordination which comprises the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly (hCa), Human Rights Association (HRA), Human Rights Agenda Asso-ciation (HRAA) and Amnesty International Turkey (AI Turkey), was established to “... monitor government policies and practices, make contributions based on human rights to especially legislation and institutionalization efforts within the framework of the accession to the EU and raise public awareness and ownership of the chal-lenges of migrants and refugees in Turkey ...”. The working methods of the Coor-dination are to follow up practices and make lobbying at relevant institutions and organize trainings and campaigns in the field. I believe RRC will take an active role in the coming legislative and consultative period.

In addition, RRC has developed the capacity of interacting and cooperating with the national, regional and international civil society, rights organizations and advo-cating individuals, organizations and networks in this field and of taking effective administrative and legal action including application to the European Court of Hu-man Rights. UNHCR status determination decisions which were closed to judicial review and for which the internal supervision mechanisms have not functioned can now be taken to the internal supervision mechanism by way of effective objection petitions. The European Court of Human Rights is used as the effective judicial au-thority against the ineffective national judicial mechanism. Currently, RRC is in a position to influence the refugee and asylum policies and strategies of public insti-tutions mainly including the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Foreigners Unit).

However, I believe we are currently utilizing roughly 10 % of the capacity of the Turkish civil society as I mentioned above. This progress suggests that the Turkish civil society can do much more in near future.

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As they have to report to the Foreigners Units every

week, these units have tried to mobilize other

public institutions, CSOs and local administrations

acting only on good faith. Indeed, the

directors of foreigners units in a number of

cities have succeeded in mobilizing local charities

although this is not part of their work.

Situation in Satellite Cities

Satellite cities are described as central Anatolian cities without any public order problems where people for whom asylum procedures are started sent to for tempo-rary residence until their procedures are completed and where refugees mingle with the community. With the exception of Van, Kayseri, Konya, Afyon, Isparta, Bur-

dur, Nevşehir and Gaziantep provinces which host high numbers of refugees, they are generally sent to these more than 30 cities in small numbers where they remain almost invisible. Because of that, refu-gees have not been noticed by people or institutions. Those who see them think that the refugees must already be under supervision of “some authorities” they have no idea about.

These people are certainly sent to designated cities by the Ministry of Internal Affairs; howev-er, they are not automatically received or looked after by governmental or non-governmental social aid agencies. The refugees are usually on their own in trying to cope with accommodation, food, heat-ing, healthcare, education and work needs. As they have to report to the Foreigners Units every week, these units have tried to mobilize other public in-

stitutions, CSOs and local administrations acting only on good faith. Indeed, the directors of foreigners units in a number of cities have succeeded in mobilizing lo-cal charities although this is not part of their work.

Furthermore, the growing number of refugees in the past couple of years is mak-ing them more and more visible now. The developing events in the region are in-creasing the number of asylum seekers also from countries other than Syria. The main factors in this growth have been the occupation of Iraq and the ongoing do-mestic aggression and changing policies of Iran towards the Afghani asylum seek-ers. In this regards, the issue of resettling these people after the UNHCR refugee status determination decisions emerges as an important working area for us because of the geographical restriction imposed by Turkey on 1951 Geneva Convention. As Turkey does not have commitment to accommodate these people permanently, UNHCR looks for states to accept them from Turkey. This procedure of “resettle-ment in a third country” has declined proportionally despite the receiving coun-

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tries increased their quotas since the number of refugees is increasing steadily. As a result, the current situation in Turkey resembles that of a congestion as the num-ber of incoming refugees is increasing whereas the number of people who receive the status and who are sent to other countries is on the decline. Accordingly, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has increased both the number of the satellite cities to 51 and then to 62 and the number of refugees sent to these cities. This growth has nearly shocked the public authorities, the civil society and local administrations in many cities.

A main observation concerning the satellite cities is that practices and services delivered to refugees vary significantly across the cities although the asylum policy is uniform throughout the country. The main determinant of this variation seems to be the attitude of governors and deputy governors in charge of enforcing the asy-lum policy. Likewise, the main actors which make the city a more livable place are the directors of foreigners units, directors of the Social Aid and Solidarity Foun-dation and sensible CSOs, charitable businessmen and other individuals with high organizational skills. However, cities which lack these actors appear to be “open prisons” for refugees.

This significant increase in the number of refugees in the past 1,5 years and par-ticularly over the past 7-8 months causes concern in the cities because the refugees are sent without advance notice to the governorships or other public institutions. Naturally, the civil society organizations, local administrations and professional as-sociations are not informed either. Therefore, this shock wave expands to almost all actors in the city. It is impossible to make physical, logistic and psychosocial prepa-rations for such a big population movement unless you are informed about it be-forehand. For example, several refugees waiting in front of the UNHCR office in Ankara were once rushed into buses for transportation to different cities to reduce the number of waiting masses and they were virtually “abandoned” in the outskirts of those cities without sending word of the action to local authorities.

It took quite a bit of effort and a couple of days for the local authorities and civil society organizations to meet and understand the newcomers and figure out what to do about them and how to do it. Thinking about possible solution came only after overcoming this initial shock. Until this initial shock was over, many people and families sought shelter in the parks and groves. Then the governorships tried to lead the way for provincial initiatives without external guidance. Again, services at this stage depended on the interest and attitude of the governorships and their experience in working with refugees.

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At this point, Civil Act for Refugee Rights Emancipation (CARE), the CARE project, funded by the EU Delegation to Turkey and led by the Association for Sol-idarity with Refugees served an important function to assess the situation in eight provinces (Isparta, Ağrı, Hatay, İzmir, Edirne, Mardin, Tokat, Denizli). Further-more, useful field activities and workshops were organized by Mülteci Der in Uşak and by MHK in Batman provinces. Obviously, there is no proper communication network within the public sector or the civil society and organizations are not aware of what the others were doing. Professional organizations, local administrations and universities also lack communication and cooperation. Many of these participating organizations became aware of the issues of refugees in their city and understood that nobody looked after them only during the workshops. Within this context, joint or separate public and civil society various working groups and coordination mechanisms were developed in some of the cities.

The issue of refugees became one of the top agenda items of Turkey after the steady increase in numbers from April 2011 that exceeded the camp site capacity and tended to expand to the other cities of the country. The conflict in Syria where aggression is going on incessantly claiming an average of 100 lives a day naturally continues to be an important news item in evening reports. This growth in the num-ber of refugees inside and outside the camps became a hot topic. However, this ini-tial positive reaction coupled with the attention of public institutions and general and humanitarian organizations focused only on Syrian refugees started to bother non-Syrian refugees. This disgruntlement still develops in several satellite cities; the “chronic” situation of Afghan refugees may pose a serious danger.

The Law on Foreigners and International Protection numbered 6458 which we tried to contribute and influence at the drafting stage was adopted on 11.04.2013. The Directorate General of Immigration which will be established after this date will be the main authority for policy making and management of implementation and it is expected to standardize practices in both public sector and civil society in the satellite cities. However, provisions related to refugees will take effect one year later. Therefore, no considerable change is expected in the situation in the satellite cities before they become effective.

Syrian refugees

Turkey had initially closed its borders to Kurdish people fleeing Halabja after the first war in the Gulf. This time, it has adopted an open-door policy for Syrian refu-

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It is impossible to understand why the camps established after May 2011 are kept closed to and isolated from the civil society, why national and international rights organizations cannot access the camps and refugees, why the press is not admitted inside the camps national and international humanitarian relief organizations are not allowed to deliver services.

gees from the beginning, an act highly appreciated. The reason for this may be that the number of people running from Halabja was huge, i.e. 468 thousand whereas Syrians have been coming in small numbers and over a period of long time. Another reason may be the position and strategic decisions of the government at that time. We do not know about them or the real motives that affected the decisions; however, we as a refugee rights organization are certainly pleased with this open door policy now.

Moreover, the physical conditions, logistics and rights and services delivered to refugees inside and outside the camp are quite better than services delivered in such mass refugee movements in some other parts of the world.

However, it is impossible to understand why the camps established after May 2011 are kept closed to and isolated from the civil society, why national and international rights organizations cannot access the camps and refugees, why the press is not ad-mitted inside the camps national and international humanitarian relief organizations are not allowed to deliver services. The usual reason against these questions has been “safety”. But, I believe practical and simple mechanisms could have been set up to facilitate service delivery to refugees and proper and firsthand information to the media. However, this has not been done and the administration has not fully trusted the civil society or the media. Similar to the organization of relief efforts after the Van earth-quake, Turkey has assessed and tested its own capac-ity by refusing domestic and international aid offers. This was another factor in keeping the services iso-lated. Unlike Jordan and Lebanon where more peo-ple sought refuge compared to Turkey, maintaining these services without any domestic or international help including UNHCR was considered an achieve-ment for Turkey.

However, the tumult and conflict in Syria has developed differently than the Arab spring in other countries and in contrast with Turkey’s expectations. The circumstances are far harder and the Syrian op-position is yet to gain advantage. As a result, the eco-nomic burden of the camps and refugees is voiced more. Turkey now complains that the rest of the world does not put their hands in the pockets. The initial “write an open check and do not interfere” position has gradually turned into more open pol-

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The term “guest” does not correspond to any legal term in the national and international law. If not

used as a result of a lack of knowledge, it means

it was used deliberately and insistently for

manipulation purposes.

icies at the hands of open-minded bureaucrats. During our latest visits, we observed the effects of these policies in access to the camps and generation of local services coordinated by local authorities. The civil society is pleased to see -though belated-

ly- a smoother working environment for national and international humanitarian aid in healthcare, education and other social areas.

In my opinion, the major obstacle to practice was the legal definition of the situation. Legal definition and positioning naturally shape up practice and the field. This is particularly important for practitioners. In this regard, we were surprised by the government’s initial statements describing the refugees as “guests and not refugees”. The term “guest” does not corre-spond to any legal term in the national and inter-

national law. If not used as a result of a lack of knowledge, it means it was used de-liberately and insistently for manipulation purposes. Perhaps the aim was to cover all the costs of Syrians taking refuge in Turkey and treat them in any manner that was deemed appropriate. However, this is not a position that can be defended out-side of Turkey.

I think, this weak position was understood before long and it appears that the Minister of Internal Affairs convinced otherwise. He declared that Turkey imple-mented “temporary protection” regime on Syrian refugees in a meeting in Novem-ber 2011 on the status of stateless persons. After that date, the authorities used the term “temporary protection regime”. However, the bureaucrats and especially the public servants in the field are still confused. This confusion sometimes results in arbitrary treatment by public servants, which worries us. For instance, a public offi-cial waved off criticisms against building refugee camps very close to the border, in contrast with the recommendations of UNHCR to keep the distant at 50 km, al-leging those criteria were for refugees. “People here are guests, not refugees. There-fore, we do not need to apply the refugee criteria to them.”

Certainly, declaring that a temporary protection regime is applied to incoming Syrians is not the end of the story, maybe just the contrary. The notion of “tempo-rary protection” was developed by the European Council as a legal tool to be ap-plied to mass applications, separately from the arrangements in the UNHCR’s 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, which is considered a legally binding text in individual asylum applications, and it made its way into legal terminology

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during the Kosovo War. While the UN does not have a binding text on this matter, this protection, shaped by European Council directives, does not empower coun-tries with unlimited authorities concerning the measures they take with regards to refugees, and it introduces an initial two-year limit of stay as well as the right of ac-cess to individual application mechanisms.

Given the progress Turkey has made in this area and its new bill, there is no other legal arrangement made by Turkey other than the reference made to the tem-porary protection regime in the new Law on Foreigners and International Pro-tection (LFIP) and referring the matter to a Cabinet regulation to be issued later. Therefore, Turkey is trying to implement a regime that lacks proper legal infra-structure in the case of the Syrian refugees. This will certainly create legal draw-backs. Indeed, a “secret directive,” concealed from the general public, civil society and even Parliament, and prepared and implemented by the Ministry of Internal Affairs about one year after the start of refugee inflow to Turkey, does not befit Turkey, a country which would be expected to work in a transparent and digni-fied manner in this area. We have managed to learn the name (i.e. Directive on the Reception and Accommodation of the Citizens of Syrian Arab Republic Seeking Mass Asylum in Turkey and Stateless Persons Resident in Syrian Arab Republic) date (30.03.2012) and number (62) but not the text of the directive concern-ing refugees. Despite the fact that the AI Turkey branch requested information about the directive under the Freedom of Information Act and that a number of deputies have made similar requests, the government and UNHCR Turkey have not shared this directive even with the refugee organizations working in the field, citing its confidentiality. This alone is enough to raise question marks about the camps and services for Syrian refugees.

The statements of opposition parties that are critical of the government’s foreign policy made a political debate material of Syrian refugees, gradually making them targets of a hate discourse. Some column writers and politicians spread negative pro-paganda about the construction of Reception, Accommodation and Screening Cen-ters in seven provinces which were planned in the National Action Plan of 2005, far before the eruption of the conflict in Syria, alleging that Syrian terrorist would be placed in those centers and that the centers could be used as a pool of votes. These statements aimed to provoke the general public and particularly the inhabitants in those 7 provinces against the refugees. Unless urgent and effective measures are tak-en, this dangerous course of affairs may create a difficult atmosphere for the refugees in Turkey in the medium and long run.

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Turkey needs to improve its knowledge and

operational capabilities and strengthen its human

resources to be able to fulfill the requirements of this specialized discipline.

Another important point is the attitude of UNHCR Turkey Office after the emergence of the issue of Syrian refugees in Turkey. UNHCR fulfilled almost all procedures of Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. Whereas UNHCR Turkey Office was involved in “technical assistance for supervised voluntary repatriation” and only after some time after the events started. UNHCR Turkey which operat-

ed with a few mobile personnel in the region un-til April 2012 opened a field office in Gaziantep in that time, indicating willingness to offer continued technical assistance with additional mobile teams. It is understood from the secret regulations on Syrian refugees that UNHCR is given a role in “voluntary repatriation” procedures and UNHCR personnel undersign the respective minutes. However, judging from the regular AFAD data on the number of vol-untary repatriations and from the number of field

staff of UNHCR Turkey we think that UNHCR supervises only a small percent-age of these voluntary returns.

At this point, the recent incidents that occurred at the Süleyman Şah tent city in Akçakale district of Şanlıurfa have raised big question about the temporary protec-tion regime and the deportation of refugees to Syria as well as UNHCR Turkey’s supervision role in the field. Upon the coverage of the incidents in the media and statements from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNHCR, the Refugee Rights Coordination conveyed its concerns to the respective public institutions and UN-HCR Turkey Office and delivered a press statement. Indeed, local newspaper İpe-kyol found people who had been deported back to Syria and learned from a number of witnesses that the incidents confirm our concerns.

These incidents are significant in that they are portent of the potential for similar events. It is imperative that the government conduct an effective and comprehen-sive probe into these incidents and take measures against them. Effective measures should be taken to indicate that the public servants in the field may not develop their own attitude based on their own personal and political views and the asylum law particularly including the principle of non-refoulement may not be infringed. Our observations during transportation of wounded Libyans to İzmir by the Min-istry of Foreign Affairs confirm our view that the public servants in the field are not working in full consistency with Ankara’s strategies and policies.

Therefore, the government should lend an ear and attach greater importance to

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the concerns and warnings voiced by civil society about the shortcomings and vio-lations in the field and conduct swift and effective investigations and take urgent, effective administrative and legal measures against perpetrators. Besides, the kind of work to be done in the case of influx of people in masses and crises leading to such movements is a separate discipline. Turkey needs to improve its knowledge and op-erational capabilities and strengthen its human resources to be able to fulfill the re-quirements of this specialized discipline.

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The Country Embracing the Refugees the Most: Turkey

NEvval SEvINDIJOuRNALIST

I would like to commend the Journalists and Writers Foundation for making an informative organization with regard to such a sensitive issue. I also would like to extend my gratitude for being invited. Actually, I would like to talk about how this issue was reflected on the media. I would like to touch on the reflections on the Western media, and not discuss the reflections on the media in Turkey alone. I also wish to make some comparisons on the Western media’s perspective of asy-lum-seekers and refugees.

When we sum up all that was spoken here, and if we reduce the cultural analysis down to a motto; it is said that there were not laws in Turkey. There were not laws in Turkey but there were helpfulness and open doors. Europe had laws but the doors were always closed. There was no desire to help. The most striking example was that when there was a massacre in Bosnia, the doors were closed and people fleeing from the massacre were left to their fate and left to die and an atmosphere was created therefor. The word “Mülteci” means “one who is taking refuge” in Arabic. “İltica” means one who runs and takes refuge in someone and “muhacir” (again Arabic) means an immigrant who goes somewhere else to settle. I am also an immigrant. My grand grandmother who emigrated from Rumelia is Bosnian and she reported-ly fled from the massacre of Turks in the Balkans and came here. The other mem-bers of the family also came from the Ottoman geography as emigrants. Therefore, I am someone who knows very well what it is to be an immigrant. I am someone who knows very well what it means to be obliged to leave all your estate, property, people, ancestors, graves and bones after having lived there for five hundred years.

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It is said that there were not laws in Turkey. There were not laws in Turkey

but there were helpfulness and open doors. Europe had laws but the doors

were always closed.

Surely, there have been various migration movements over the centuries. The previ-ous speaker said that I would give information on this historical issue but I do not intend to do so. The Jews who fled from Spain are certainly one of the mass move-ments that took refuge in the Ottomans. Why did they flee? Because they were Jews in Spain….because some of them got killed and some of them were threatened with death... Or they fled from this outrage because of the imposition forcing them to

become Christians. Muslims and Jews were killed. There was such a population movement in the Ot-toman geography but mass movements did not take place frequently then. Surely, Turks who underwent a massacre and escaped from Russia took refuge in the Ottomans by moving in mass. In the Ottoman period, such mass movements took place.

This issue was also discussed here in general all day long. Presently, this dynamism also concerns us

considerably in a world where demographic movements are extremely intense. Yet, Mrs. Esen, the official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the official from AFAD, both as representatives of the state, did not use the expression “mülteci” or “muhacir” or anything else. They said “Guests”. That is, people use the word “guest” even in public and on the ground. In the past, when we arrived, “muhacir” was a word which was used more commonly. But now, it is barely used. I now notice that the word “guest” is being used more commonly. This is a word associated mostly with culture. It is a cultural definition not a legal one. As I said, we do not have laws but we make such a definition as we have open doors in terms of culture and as we embrace people in hard times. Turkey has never rejected anyone who took shelter in her. For example; as you know, Meskhetian Turks, Albanians, Belarusians, Cir-cassians, Iranians after 1980s, following the Revolution and Kurds after the Halabja Massacre were among those who arrived. The then head of the Turkish Red Cres-cent said “Our teams conducted an unbelievable humanitarian operation in Erbil and Dohuk in 1994. We provided the families there with food quarterly for four years.” Carrying on with this food supplying activity for four years is not something anyone can afford in Europe. Neither states nor taxpayers would accept that. The latter would say “You cannot do such a thing with my tax”.

This applies also to the present day. The dispute between Germany and Greece, for example, is going on (through the press) due to this reason. Furthermore, Bos-nians, Macedonians and Kosovans were involved in mass movements largely during

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the Ottoman period and also during the Republican period thereafter. Mass move-ments were mainly from the former Ottoman geography to the Republic of Turkey. Turks came at the time of the disintegration of Yugoslavia and Kosovans, Bosnians and Macedonians came during the massacre in Bosnia. The Muslims in India took refuge in here when they were oppressed. Uyghurs also fled and took refuge in here when oppressed. The Pakistanis also did the same… Refugee, asylum-seeker or guest, whatever the name may be, how does Turkey behave to foreigners who take refuge in our country? How is this reflected on the media? We should talk about this.

The (representative of the) delegation of the EU in Turkey took the floor pre-viously and only talked about the money. He said “This is not enough to solve the problem, but…”. When we add up the figures given-although I am not very good with figures- it is crystal clear that these are a drop in the bucket when compared to what the Turkish state has paid. For, money is really not enough in any way whatso-ever in solving this problem. In Europe, the laws are already well-established. States play it safe… An individualistic, group, community sociology, culture, psychology, economy, security (security comes first for Europe) is in question; if security did not come first, 60, 70, 100 refugees would not have starved to death offshore Italian seas. Now, from a European standpoint, the acceptance of the influx of 450 thousand refugees coming from Syria by the public, the acclamation of this by the press and the financing and establishment of camps similar to 5-star hotels for those people by the state never comes into question. I know the media there. I know what they wrote in previous incidents. I also mentioned the government expenditure. Vari-ous campaigns are being made and the government is supporting those campaigns. As in the campaign “a bread and a blanket”, in addition to the expenditure the gov-ernment’s making out of the budget, non-governmental organizations are also vis-iting those camps on their own to be of help. As a matter of fact, even the Associa-tion “Kimse Yok Mu” stated that they granted a few million dollars. Considerable amounts and assistance were provided in cash or in kind and the embracing part was made voluntarily.

One of the news items related to asylum-seekers that I have cited from the media is on how chemical powder was spread on Halabja. It reports how horrible the sit-uation was in Halabja. Apart from the Kurds from Halabja who took refuge in our country and whom we took care of, 65,000 peshmarga entered Turkey from out of the intermediate zone formed by the United Nations (UN). They were also taken care of. As asylum-seekers, their needs were also met. Any and all kinds of assistance, food, drinks etc. were provided to the people in that intermediate zone as well as

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to Peshmerges and to Kurds. The province of Hakkari overflowed with Kurds who took shelter in its villages. The government and the public endeavoured to help the asylum-seekers. They gave them a helping hand. This is the language used in the media; it was used like that.

A new wave of asylum followed the occupation of Kuwait in 1990. Foreign work-ers and technicians who were working in Iraq and Kuwait arrived after the emergence of the crisis. Workers who wanted to return to their countries over Jordan and Turkey en masse created dynamism again. The majority being Bangladeshi and Pakistani, 62,922 individuals having the nationality of different countries came to Turkey and 4778 of those were Turkish nationals. These people were wined and dined and were given healthcare services for some time. Then, they returned to their countries. The second group of asylum-seekers were originally from Iraq comprising soldiers and civilians who fled from the harassment and fear caused by the war. The last mass asylum took place in 1990 with Saddam’s taking action against the civilian groups which revolted after the Gulf War. Whoever moved was being shot. The solution was to escape to Turkey…For example, there is this heading. “61 migrants died of hunger and thirst”. NATO just watched all this to happen. They have all kinds of laws but, you see; our media reflected what Europe did in terms of our own culture. Thus, they wrote beautifully how NATO was a mere spectator, how the UN said “But I do not have funds, I cannot allocate funds as you did”. And again reporting over London: 61 migrants on a boat in the Mediterranean including also women and children died of hunger and thirst. That boat waited offshore for 16 days. On the coast, they watched them die for 16 days. There were 72 migrants... 47 of the migrants on the boat which set off from Libya and headed for an Italian island were migrants from Ethiopia and the others were from Nigeria, Eritrea, Ghana and Sudan. 20 women, 2 children, the boat’s captain from Ghana and others were not reached. For, they were not accepted. This is how they departed.

What happened in Halabja massacre is obvious... Bosnians in Bosnian genocide…They never opened any borders to Muslim people. Yet, we gave food, bread and tents to Kurds who sought to save their lives. Turkey never treated those people as if they were parasites and headlines reflecting such a treatment never appeared in the Turkish media. The discourse of the media was that they should have been regarded as “individuals with rights and not as parasites”. But surely there were provocations prior to the incidents that took place. There is already such a complicated structure that nobody knows who is who, who came from where, who is a spy and who is a provocateur! Europe never lets such a population the security of which is so prob-

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What do we do with the asylum-seekers we distributed to 53 provinces? We distributed them to 53 provinces, what a confidence! We never cared about security or anything. We entrusted them to 53 provinces, to the residents of those 53 provinces.

lematic into its own area. Despite all these, what happened in our country? Syrian asylum-seekers threw stones to the police. And in my opinion, the media again used an unbiased headline to report this. They threw stones and the news item says they threw stones. It was not reported by saying “Rascal asylum-seekers seize our country and, adding insult to injury, they throw stones to us”. While incidents and irregular-ities caused by asylum-seekers appeared occasionally in the press as in the incident of Syrian asylum-seekers’ hitting the police officers who asked to see their identity cards, Turks have always called asylum-seekers as brothers. We behaved them the way we would behave to our brothers and sisters. Our people always talked to press members with sincere words and feelings.

The Turkish National Commission for UNESCO had a two-day study in Ga-ziantep about Syrians who took refuge in Turkey. In the evaluation meeting held in Şehit Kamil Cultural Centre consequent to the study, Assoc.Prof. Dr. Akif Kireççi, the Acting Head of the Commission, stated that they visited four camps and de-scribed the camps where those from Syria lived as having a unique quality global-ly. He said “These camps will be a reference for global standards”. These appeared in the news broadcasted by CNBC and CNN and were also stated by the speaker who took the floor before me. What do we do with the asylum-seekers we distrib-uted to 53 provinces? We distributed them to 53 provinces, what a confidence! We never cared about security or anything. We entrusted them to 53 provinces, to the residents of those 53 provinces. There are asy-lum-seekers and refugees in 53 provinces and in-cidents that occur involve anonymous individuals’ throwing stones or stabbing others due to personal conflicts… There are also problems related to pub-lic order and security in those provinces where there are so many asylum-seekers… However, asylum-seek-ers would not be distributed to 53 provinces in Eu-rope, such a thing is not possible. Europeans know this very well and I know about their media. I al-so know how such things are reflected on the me-dia. There is serious documentation. For example, I can tell you this. Asylum-seekers are being settled in Central Anatolia region. The Council of Higher Education opens its doors to them and in order to enable them to study in universities, they are granted special student status by a circular letter. On the other hand, the medical certificate, the di-ploma of a Turk who graduated from a medical faculty and who went to Germany

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was not recognized. He was told to study there again or otherwise work at a doner shop. I believe that the global or the European attitude towards asylum-seekers or refugees can be the subject of a serious documentary study with its dimensions re-flected on the media or not. Turkey is such a country that in 1923, while she was unable to even relieve herself, Hilal-i Ahmer, provided food aid to Russia for three years due to famine. While its own people were starving, food was sent there when it was said “There is famine, our Muslim brothers are hungry”.

Currently, a very interesting term emerged in Germany and it became a matter of discussion in the media. This new term is “poverty migration”. In 2008, a report on refugees was issued in Federal Germany. The report revealed that in terms of health-care, there was a huge gap between those with refugee origin and normal people. Leaving the camps, the former has shifted permanently to a normal life. Yet, even they are not provided anything with respect to healthcare. Thereupon, the poverty migration term began to be discussed in the media. In West Europe, being a Bul-garian is posing more difficulty. The campaign against Romanians is snowballing. The only reason for France’s deporting the gypsies was the fact that national securi-ty was at stake. This is what every state showing the door to gypsies is saying. In the meeting of the Ministers of the Interior held in Brussels, the exclusion of Bulgar-ia and Romania from the scope of Schengen and the misuse of free movement was discussed. It was said “We should exclude those countries for security. Because we are afflicted with Gypsies, Bulgarians and Romanians and they are threatening our security. An MP from the Liberal Party said “The party responsible for this is the Federal Government who allowed these countries to become EU members prema-turely” to the media. Right, just like in the case of Cyprus… The Germans do not accept gypsies as ordinary refugees. They gave them a new name and now call them “Poverty Migrants”. I guess you understood why they killed those migrants in those boats: They are poor…They do not want poor people; they do not wish to help poor people. They do not want to give them neither pullovers nor handkerchiefs. The “Poverty Migration” is seriously linked with security and they do not want to let in any of the refugees. They definitely do not want them to benefit from social aids. Since refugees are coming in from Syria in mass, our social, cultural and eco-nomic situation is obvious. We help those, then this means we are wealthier than the European states. We do everything to help. Southeastern Anatolia has become the centre of hidden economy, is it not the case? There we have illegal economy, hidden economy, olive oil, cotton, sheep, luxury cars; there is everything one may ask for. It is written in the media that illegal cotton production is posing a serious problem against the producers. That is also a news item which is true. AFAD also

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knows what is going on. However, this cannot take place in Europe. Fugitives will be brought in and they will organize activities and make trade, no sir! The Syrian border is becoming a smuggling area and public order issues naturally appear in the media. What did the UN High Commissioner for Refugees say? According to UN reports, around one million Syrians took refuge in neighbouring countries and most had traumas. These people have lost their properties and family members. Italy and Greece do not mind their traumas. They do not allow refugees coming in ships to disembark. They kill them by leaving them in ships. Human traffickers locked 7-8 refugees in a mushroom house in İstanbul and caused them to die due to a fire. This surely appeared in the media. Yet, the fight with human traffickers is the common problem of all countries; mainly of the USA...

There are various civil society organizations and websites like multeci.net broad-casting news on human rights which demonstrate how sensitive our country is about human and refugee rights. Those organizations are institutions which you can find when you google and they also have clarifying information on the abovementioned issues. This shows us that illegal immigration movements are a serious problem for everyone. It was already stated in the previous panel that while the average mobil-ity of an individual was generally 1 km. till the 20th century, now millions of peo-ple migrate here and there. Therefore, I would like to add something. Mrs. Meera Seti said “Prejudices and stereotypes related to refugees and migrants are already over. The society has a different perception now”. I thought she was possibly utter-ing those by looking from Turkey. For, when I look from a European perspective, it is definitely not the case! There are very serious prejudices. Caricatures are being drawn over stereotypes and movies have plots with stereotypes. That is, refugees and asylum-seekers are faced with grave prejudices in the mass media as a whole. There-fore, when we look into the issue from two different cultures, we see two different media cultures and I believe speaking on this issue will not be right before it will be studied, examined or documented as a comparative science. Thank you very much.

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Law on Foreigners and International Protection

MEhMET METINErADIyAMAN DEPuTy, GRAND NATIONAL ASSEMbLy OF TuRKEy THE HuMAN RIGHTS INquIRy COMITEE

Distinguished participants,

First of all, I greet you all with respect

In the past, our world has witnessed extensive immigrations due to numerous reasons. In today’s world however, it is observed that immigration movements, the character of which has changed in comparison to the past, is gradually increasing, let aside decreasing. In order to overcome the challenges created thereby, there is a need to have in place a qualified legislation substructure and an efficiently working institutional structure.

Our country is one of the significant routes and stops of these ongoing immi-gration movements. As a matter of fact, the special position of our country on the geography it is situated makes the issue of immigration comprehensive and com-plicated. Our country, which was at the position of a transit country and a route in relation to international immigration movements, has now become a country of destination. Taking into consideration the fact that Turkey has acquired the posi-tion of a country of destination with regard to the immigration movements of the present time, it is apparent that our country should manage this field better. When we take into account that interstate immigration movements are ever-increasing and that criminal organizations seek to take advantage of this illegal immigration depending on cyclical grounds, it is of vital importance to manage the present case of immigration contemporarily.

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Speaking of immigration, I would like you to bear in mind that we consider the case of asylum within the scope of the notion of immigration. As with immigration, asylum movements also involve individuals’ leaving their countries due to various reasons and immigrate to other countries through either legal or illegal means. How-ever, the most apparent distinction between those is the presence of a “systematic international protection” provided to asylum-seekers. Asylum movements, which

generally emerge as affected by social and political incidents and which are distinguished by their hu-manitarian dimension are today one of the funda-mental global issues as in past periods.

It should be recalled that the field of asylum and immigration, apart from its international dimen-sion, is a multi-dimensional issue which interests Turkey’s economic, socio-cultural and demographic structure, public order and security deeply. Due to our critical position with regard to the field of im-migration and asylum and to the significance of this field, the present legislation was reviewed and the

comprehensive Law which was prepared with an aim to adapt to the realities of the time was adopted by the Turkish Grand National Assembly on 4 April 2013. This Law which was prepared in accordance with domestic needs will form the legal basis of our national policies and strategies in the field of asylum and immigration. More importantly, the spirit of the Law which I will briefly talk about in a short while is, in the strict sense, respect for “human rights”.

Distinguished participants,

In brief, we need this Law because;

• Our present legislation and institutional substructure which govern immigra-tion movements taking place through legal or illegal means were inadequate to meet the current needs of our country.

• The two laws which regulate the legal status of aliens, namely the Passport Law numbered 5682 and the Law on the Residence and Travels of Foreign-ers in Turkey are both dated 1950 and were prepared as based on the Con-stitution of 1924.

• The fundamental instruments of human rights law, however, were adopted after the date those codes of law entered into effect. For example, the Con-

The field of immigration and asylum, besides

its security dimension, has a multi-dimensional

structure based on human rights, which

requires cooperation. Therefore, this field

should be dealt with from a holistic perspective.

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vention Relating to the Status of Refugees is dated 1951 and the European Convention on Human Rights is dated 1953. On the other hand, according to the data in hand, while the number of people entering our country in 1953 was 91,114, this number was 29,704,394 in 2012. The number of foreigners currently residing in our country has reached 237,250 as of the end of 2012.

• While the fundamental rights and freedoms of aliens may only be restricted by law, this is maintained mainly through administrative (secondary) regula-tions. For example, our legislation on asylum consisted merely of regulations adopted in 1994 and we did not have any Asylum Law.

• The immigration policy of our country is generally focused on the immigra-tion of relative communities. Therefore, we need legislation and an institu-tional structure to accommodate and update immigration movements other than the immigration of relative communities.

• The population of the developed and developing countries, which also in-clude our country is ageing and also young workforce is diminishing. It has been considered that there is a need to attract young and qualified workforce to our country in the next 20-30 years period and that there will be ever-in-creasing competition in that regard. Thus, the determination of long-term legal immigration policies and strategies has gained importance.

• The field of immigration and asylum, be-sides its security dimension, has a multi-di-mensional structure based on human rights, which requires cooperation. Therefore, this field should be dealt with from a holistic perspective.

• The need for a specialized institution which would operate in the field of immigration and asylum was being felt in our country day by day. As a matter of fact, when the structures of EU member states related to immigration and asylum are examined, it is seen that those states have specialty units that govern said field.

• The issue of “Asylum and Immigration” occupies a significant place within the scope of Chapter 24 in EU negotiations. In this framework, it was compulso-ry to have the legislative work to govern asylum and immigration.

The field of immigration and international protection which is being governed by delegated regulations while it should have been regulated by primary legislation will now have been regulated by law.

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• In its recent decisions related to Turkey with respect to asylum and immigra-tion, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that there have been repeated violations in many issues like the failure to provide efficient remedies domestically. Therefore, a need to prepare legislation in line with the case law of ECHR has arisen.

• As refugees/asylum-seekers rights are not clearly stipulated in our law codes, the loss of right may occur in its application.

• The fight with human trafficking and the protection of victims are of the sig-nificant issues that are monitored internationally. There was also a need to regulate this field.

• In the field of asylum and immigration, Reception Centres, Repatriation Cen-tres and Shelters for the Victims of Human Trafficking were being criticised for not being operated in accordance with international norms. Although these were improved considerably in recent years, their managements need-ed to be reorganized.

All these are the reasons of the need for a new “immigration and asylum legisla-tion”. The process of the preparation of the bill is also quite impressive.

The legislations of the states which were affected more from immigration were looked into meticulously and above all, technical support received from relevant in-ternational institutions and non-governmental organizations was efficiently incor-porated into the process. Workshops were held with relevant state institutions and organizations, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and fac-ulty members. Furthermore, the evaluations and opinions of the other relevant units of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Council as well as of the EU Commission were taken into account. At the end of all these processes, the Bill was examined secondarily by the Human Rights Review Commission, which I am also a member of and was accepted by the agreement of all members. For our Com-mission has a sub-commission set up to examine the issues of immigration, asylum and taking refuge in the light of human rights. The Law which was also examined secondarily by the EU Harmonization Commission was accepted after it was finally examined by the Internal Affairs Commission in terms of its merits. The fact that the opposition parties did not lodge any statement of opposition with respect to the bill indicates how efficiently the law regulates this field.

Distinguished participants,

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I would like to end my speech after touching briefly on the novelties introduced by this comprehensive law. The Law on Foreigners and International Protection aims to constitute the legal, administrative and physical substructure of Turkey in the field of immigration, to maintain harmonization with international standards and the EU acquis and the elimination of the loopholes which form a basis for the decisions of the ECHR about violations in our country. The field of immigration and international protection which is being governed by delegated regulations while it should have been regulated by primary legislation will now have been regulated by law. Throughout the scope of the law, a balance has been sought between public order and security and accordingly reciprocal mechanisms have been devised the ef-forts for the opening of the 24th Chapter will be contributed to significantly within the European Union negotiation process. The determination of our country’s long and short-term immigration policies and strategies will be facilitated. To that end, an Immigration Policy Board will be established in conformity with the global ex-amples of immigration policies and strategies. The Draft comprises three main parts which are Foreigners, International protection, and the organization and duties of the Directorate General of Immigration Administration.

In relation to foreigners:

• An efficient and systematic structure is introduced with regard to visa and residence permit procedures which form the legal immigration framework and thus bureaucratic paperwork and irregularities are diminished as much as possible.

• Regulations related to visas are harmonized with the EU Visa Regulations and Schengen acquis.

• Work permits will replace residence permits. By this way, a foreigner will not be required to apply to more than one institution and bureaucratic paperwork in Turkey will be greatly reduced.

• The first residence permits will be able to be given from abroad. Thus, the reasons for the stay of foreigners in Turkey will be identified beforehand and the necessary documents will be ensured to be obtained before entry into the country. Since the rejection of applications will take place abroad, the burden of deportation of foreigners from Turkey will be avoided.

• Residence permits are classified with special terms and liabilities assigned for each and rights arising therefrom are indicated clearly.

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• Positive discrimination is introduced with regard to the residence permit rights of foreigners who are subject to domestic violence or whose spouse with Turk-ish nationality has deceased, as well as of their children.

• The right to work may be granted to foreign students in Turkey in accordance with EU acquis. It will be ensured that Turkey will be a center of attraction for qualified workforce by granting the students the right to obtain a 1-year residence permit following the completion of their studies in Turkey.

• Foreign investors will be allowed to obtain long term residence permits and foreign direct investment will be encouraged.

• The rights of stateless individuals are prescribed in a law for the first time.

• Residence permits will be issued for the foreign victims of human trafficking to recover from the trauma they experienced.

• “Adaptation” processes based solely on voluntariness are designated so that the foreigners and the local community may co-exist in tolerance.

• The legal substructure of the fight against illegal immigration which became an international problem rather than a national one is being strengthened and thus rendered more efficient.

• Since the initial residence and work permits will be issued by the consulates, our country’s fight against illegal immigration will be able to start from abroad.

• Safeguards and efficient objection modalities are introduced in relation to deportation procedures of foreigners.

• The legal basis for the decisions on deportation and administrative super-vision of aliens is formed. As a result of this, complete harmonization with relevant provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights will be ensured and the decisions on violations which may be given by the ECHR against our country will have been avoided.

• Repatriation Centers will be operated by the Ministry of the Interior itself or by state institutions and organizations as well as by Turkish Red Crescent Society through protocols.

In relation to the field of international protection:

• A law on asylum/international protection in conformity with international human rights standards and EU Acquis has been enacted for the first time.

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• The legislation and practices of our country in the field of international pro-tection are harmonized with the EU Acquis and the 1951 Geneva Conven-tion; however the geographical limitation imposed by our country to the aforementioned Convention is maintained.

• A protection system which secures the fundamental rights and needs of the applicants as well as the beneficiaries of international protection is created.

• It has clearly been written that applicants and the holders of international protection status cannot be resettled to where they will be subject to oppres-sion and “the principle of non-refoulement” has been regulated by law for the first time.

• Since applicants and the holders of international status will be exempt from residence permits, the problem associated with the residence permit fee will be eliminated.

• Special protection mechanisms have been created for those with special needs, primarily for unaccompanied children, in conformity with interna-tional standards.

• Secondary protection has been regulated by law for the first time.

• The “temporary protection” system to be pro-vided in cases of mass influx has gained legal basis.

• Reception centers for asylum seekers and shel-ters will be operated by the Ministry of the In-terior itself or by state institutions and orga-nizations as well as by Turkish Red Crescent Society through protocols.

In relation to the Directorate General of Immigration Administration:

• The works and transactions related to asylum and immigration (visas, resi-dence, study etc.) will be carried out by the civil specialty institution affiliated to the Ministry of the Interior. Thus, a manageable and institutional structur-ing where strategies are devised and human rights and security balance can be maintained in conformity with global examples will be adopted.

It has clearly been written that applicants and the holders of international protection status cannot be resettled to where they will be subject to oppression and “the principle of non-refoulement” has been regulated by law for the first time.

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• The Directorate General will be organized in 81 cities.

• Subject to acceptance by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the visa and resi-dence applications are to be made via our foreign missions carried out by the specialists to be assigned abroad by the Ministry of the Interior.

• Taking into consideration the international character of immigration, an or-ganizational structure based on specialization will be maintained.

The Directorate General of Immigration Administration will have the following duties and responsibilities:

• To act as the “secretariat” of the Immigration Policy Board and implement its decisions,

• To carry out the works and transactions for the scope and implementation of providing protection to the foreigners and stateless people requesting inter-national protection and of providing temporary protection to the aforemen-tioned in the case of mass influx,

• To carry out the works and transactions related to legal immigration,

• To carry out the works and transactions related to deportation and adminis-trative supervision,

• To carry out the works and transactions related to the protection of the vic-tims of human trafficking,

• To carry out the works and transactions related to stateless people,

• To operate refugee reception centres or shelters for the victims of human trafficking,

• To maintain coordination among law enforcement agencies and other units in relation to the fight against irregular immigration,

• To plan the activities related to the adaptation of the applicants for interna-tional protection, of the beneficiaries of international protection and other foreigners to the local community and to maintain coordination.

The legislation and administrative system of our country with respect to immi-gration and international protection has been harmonized with international human rights norms and the EU Acquis and it has been ensured that we have the legal, ad-ministrative and physical substructure we need in relation to immigration. We can

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easily say that a sound and manageable immigration system which favours national interests and strengthens the position of Turkey in international relations has been set up with this Law which was widely acclaimed by international institutions and non-governmental organizations.

Thank you for your attention.

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Final Declaration

The Journalists and Writers Foundation organized a Workshop on the Refu-gee-Asylum Seeker Policy of Turkey in the Light of Recent Developments” on 25 April 2013 in Ankara. The highlights of the workshop discussions are as follows:

1. Previously an emigrant country, Turkey has gradually become a transit and then a target country.

2. The complicated migration structure in Turkey requires classification of for-eigners in the country. Distinguishing between regular and irregular migrants and persons who require international protection is important for determin-ing their respective rights and Turkey’s obligations.

3. The Law on Foreigners and International Protection - LAIP (Official Ga-zette 6458, 11 April 2013) which was drafted in a transparent fashion and in cooperation with civil society organizations, international organizations, academics and public institutions taking into account the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the migration and asylum legislation of the EU was welcomed by all relevant groups.

4. Currently, migration and asylum affairs are carried out by foreigners sections in provincial security directorates. With the adoption of the Law No: 6458, the work will be performed by a civilian and more professional group, i.e. the local, and central and foreign organization of the Directorate General for the Administration of Migration. This approach to the management of migration and asylum is very positive in respect of human rights.

5. The participatory approach in the drafting of the Law on Foreigners and In-ternational Protection should be maintained in the implementation of the law with a special emphasis on human rights.

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6. International and civil society organizations and their representatives appre-ciate the treatment and services provided to Syrian refugees within and out-side the camps. UNHCR which deals with asylum affairs worldwide since 1951 has also expressed satisfaction with the camps and excluded Syrian ref-ugees outside the scope as they enjoy sufficient protection in Turkey, which is particularly meaningful.

7. People who depend on international protection are the responsibility of the international community. The international community has failed to ade-quately respond to Turkey’s call for support and Turkey has almost been left to its own devices in the Syrian crisis.

8. The representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prime Ministry Disas-ter and Emergency Management Presidency and the Human Rights Inquiry Commission of the Parliament have declared preparedness to new waves of migration should the conflict in Syria continue.

9. Civil society organizations highlighted the need for enhanced transparency in the refugee camps.

10. A number of universities have migration and asylum research centers in Tur-key. However, it is necessary to increase the number of academic studies and scientific research in this area.

11. The language and role of the media in migration and asylum is important in respect of societal perceptions and sensitivities.

12. The United Nations Millennium Development Goals including eradication of poverty, achieving universal primary education, reducing child mortali-ty, improving maternal health, empowering women, ensuring environment sustainability, preventing communicable diseases and global partnership for development need to cover foreigners which have the status of refugees, asy-lum-seekers and temporary protection.

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Speakers

ESEN ALTUĞBorn in 1963, Esen Altuğ received her Bachelor’s Degree from the Faculty of Political Science of Ankara University. She received her MBA at Audentes International University. She started in 1985 as a civil service officer in the Naval and Aviation Office and continued her career in different positions in the state bureaucracy. She served as the Consul General to Rotterdam (2007–11) and as a head of department at the Multilateral Economic Affairs General Directorate (2011–12). She is currently serving as the Deputy Director General for Immigration, Asylum and Visas.

CAROL BATCHELORCarol Batchelor holds a BA from the University of Washington, a JD in Private and Public International Law from Stanford University and an LLM in Public International Law from Cambridge University (UK). Ms. Batchelor has worked for the UN High Commission for Refugees in a number of capacities over the years. Her most recent assignment was as the first Director of the Ethics Office, which she opened in 2008. Prior to this, Ms. Batchelor served as Chief of Mission for UNHCR operations in India and the Maldives. She has also served as the Senior Legal Officer at UNHCR Headquarters in both the Protection Support and Oversight Section, as well as in the Standards and Legal Advice Section. She spearheaded the expansion of UNHCR’s work on statelessness during the 1990s. Prior to joining UNHCR, Ms. Batchelor worked in the private sector as Director of Operations for the US firm Media Marketing, as a consultant to Japan-based Terrada Investment, and as a law associate in the Los Angeles and London offices of Mayer, Brown and Platt. Currently, Ms. Batchelor is assigned as the UNHCR Representative to Turkey.

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MEERA SETHIMs. Meera Sethi graduated from the Political Development Department of Jawaharlal Nehru University in India. Ms. Sethi also has a diploma in management with a specialization in administrative communication. She holds a PhD in Public Administration and Comparative Government from Northern Illinois University, USA, where she received an award for her dissertation on civil service reform. She has over eight years of experience teaching in international higher education in the United States, Ethiopia and Zambia.Ms. Sethi has been with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) since 1995, serving both in the field and at IOM headquarters. Since October 2010, Ms. Sethi has been assigned as the IOM Chief of Mission for Turkey, responsible for a wide range of migration management programs and activities aimed at aligning Turkey with the on-going EU accession process.Previously, Ms. Sethi served one year as the Senior Regional Advisor (SRA) for South Asia and for Sub-Saharan Africa, and in the External Relations Department at IOM Headquarters in Geneva (January 2004 to September 2009). From 1995 to 2003, Ms. Sethi served as the IOM Chief of Mission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She established the IOM office and led regional and country projects in the field of migration management. She is currently the IOM Chief of Mission for Turkey.

OKTAY DURUKANBorn in İstanbul in 1976, Oktay Durukan received his BA in Political Science and International Relations from Boğaziçi University. He is currently the director of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly (hCa) Refugee Program. hCa provides legal support for asylum-seekers in Turkey and other foreigners who are under surveillance for the purpose of deportation; monitors policies and practices in the field of asylum and irregular migration management from the perspective of human rights; and publishes reports and organizes training activities for lawyers and experts in related fields. He frequently contributes to debates on Turkey’s refugee policies in both domestic and international platforms on the behalf of hCa.

TURAN ERKOÇBorn in 1956, Turan Erkoç received his Bachelor’s Degree in Ankara. Since 1977, he served as director and head of department first in General Directorate of Disaster Affairs in Ministry of Public Works and Settlement, and then Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency(AFAD). After Marmara Earthquake, he was the Director General of the Crisis Centre Presidency in Ministry of Public Works and Settlement; and also, he was a member of Special Commission in State Planning Organization, Economic Congress of Turkey and Council of Earthquake. He has publications on earthquake (Deprem Nedir and Deprem Öncesi, Sırası ve Sonrası Nasıl Davranılmalı). He is currently serving as Advisor and Coordinator of the Syrian Desk in AFAD.

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SPEAKERS

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FRANÇOİS NAUCODİEFrançois Naucodie, is the First Counsellor, responsible for foreign policy, for the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey. Naucodie was stationed at the Turkey desk in the French Foreign Ministry’s European Bureau (1994 to June 1998). He was the First Counsellor of the French Embassy in Turkey (July 1998 to September 2002). He ran the G8 desk in the French Foreign Ministry’s Security Bureau, and he served as Second Counsellor for the French Embassy in Belgium (September 2005 to August 2008). Before becoming First Counsellor for the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey, he served as a temporary assigned national expert for the General Directorate of Expansion at the Council of Europe (September 2008 to September 2011).

Prof. NURAY EKŞİCurrently the chair of the International Private Law Department in the Yeditepe University Faculty of Law, Prof. Nuray Ekşi, graduated in 1987 at the top of her class with her LLB degree from the Marmara University Faculty of Law. She received her LLM and PhD degrees in the Social Science Institute’s Department of Private Law at the same university. In 1999, she became an associate professor in the Marmara University Faculty of Law with her work entitled “Cautionary Attachment of Foreign Ships” and became full professor in 2005. She was the chair of the International Private Law Department at Marmara University and the chair of the International Law Department at Istanbul Kültür University. She has worked as an arbitrator in both national and international institutions, edited books and journals, and authored numerous books and articles.

CELAL TÜRKOĞLUCelal Türkoğlu is Vice Chairman of the Kimse Yok Mu (KYM) Association. Born in 1969 in Eskişehir, he graduated from the Gazi University Department of Machienary in Technical Faculty of Education. After serving as the director in various private schools in Ankara, Bursa and İstanbul, he spent sometime in Taiwan for some educational and cultural purposes. When he returned to Turkey, Türkoğlu began working at KYM. After six years within the organization, and holding a variety of positions, he is currently the Vice Chairman.

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REFUGEE-ASYLUM SEEKER POLICY OF TURKEY IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

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TANER KILIÇBorn in 1969, Taner Kılıç studied law at Dokuz Eylül University, where he graduated in 1991. He has been a lawyer since 1993 in Izmir. He served two terms on the executive boards of the Izmir branches of both the Zehra Foundation and Mazlum-Der and was also one of the founders of the Turkey branch of Amnesty International. He became the vice president of Amnesty International and was the ombudsman after he worked voluntarily as the refugee coordinator of the organization for five years. Kılıç is one of the founders of the Society for Solidarity with Refugees (Mülteci Der) and has been the chairman of the executive board of this organization since 2009.

NEVVAL SEVİNDİGraduating from the Anthropology Department of Ankara University in 1979, Nevval Sevindi, received her MA in Classical Archaeology and Ancient Greek at Ege University. She worked as a researcher and a ministerial consultant in the Ministry of Construction and Settlement and took part in the World Bank’s Çukurova Regional Development Project. As an activist, she is one of the founders of KA-DER (Association for the Support of Women Candidates) and the Women’s Works Library and Information Center, which is unique in Turkey. Her essays and poems were first published in 1989 in the journal Argos, and she has worked for daily newspapers and magazines like Varlık, Konstantiniye, Cumhuriyet, and Sabah. She has also been a columnist for Yeni Yüzyıl and Zaman and the editor-in-chief of DA (Dialogue Eurasia) Magazine, which is published in Russian and Turkish. She is also the author of the bestselling book Contemporary Islamic Conversations (Turkish, 1997; English, 2008).

MEHMET METİNERBorn in Adıyaman Kâhta in 1960, Mehmet Metiner is the Deputy of Adıyaman from Justice and Development Party. He is a jounalist and writer as well and graduated from the department of Turkish Language and Literature at Istanbul University. He was the editor-in chief of Girişim, Yeni Zemin and Sözleşme. Also he was the counsel of both the mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and the leader of Virtue Party. Mr. Metiner worked as an academician in Bahçeşehir University and has 8 published books.

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Images

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Left to right: Oktay Durukan, Carol Batchelor, Assoc. Prof. Mahmut Akpınar, Mustafa Yeşil, Esen Altuğ, Meera Sethi

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A general view from the workshop

Mustafa Yeşil, President of JWF

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Speakers from the first session

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Esen Altuğ, Deputy Director General for Immigration, Asylum and Visas, Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

A general view from the Workshop

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Left to right: François Nauçodie, Prof. Cengiz Başak, Turan Erkoç, Prof. Nuray Ekşi, Celal Türkoğlu, Nevval Sevindi

Participants from different organizations

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Participants from different organizations

Meera Sethi, Chief of Mission, IOM Turkey

Carol Batchelor, UNHCR Turkey Representative

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Participants from different foreign missions

Left to right: Asist. Prof. Zeynep Şahin Mencütek, Taner Kılıç, Mehmet Metiner, Prof. Ahmet Nuri Yurdusev, Turan Erkoç, Nevval Sevindi

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While the Final Declaration was being announced

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A Photo from discussions

Participants from different organizations

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Akçakale Tent – City, Şanlıurfa – Pharmacy

Akçakale Tent – City, Şanlıurfa

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Öncüpınar Container – City, Kilis – Primary School

Öncüpınar Container – City, Kilis

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Öncüpınar Container – City, Kilis – Vocational Training Program

Öncüpınar Container – City, Kilis – A photo from a lesson

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Harran Container – City, Şanlıurfa - Park

Nizip 1 Tent – City, Gaziantep - Kindergarten

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Harran Container – City , Hospital

A photo from a lunch