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MPI Report on Syrian refugees in Turkey
Mariana Andrei - Communication Coordinator
11 June 2015
Turkey now hosts the largest community of Syrians displaced by the conflict in their country. According to United Nations estimates, the Syrian refugee population in Turkey exceeded 1.7 million as of mid-March 2015, and the actual figure may be even higher considering the large number of unregistered refugees. Migration Policy Institute (MPI) has recently published a report on this topic, “Syrian Refugees in Turkey: The Long Road Ahead”, written by Ahmet İçduygu.
The reception policies in Turkey were based on the assumption that the situation in Syria would not last long and thus the displaced Syrians would be able to return home. However conditions continue to deteriorate in Syria and the conflict is now in its fifth year. It has therefore become clear that a political change, to provide long term solutions, is needed.
According to the report, the implementation of migration reforms to align Turkish legislation to EU standards has limited Turkish authorities' capacity to manage Syrian migrant flows and hence the crisis management was left largely to national organisations operating on the ground. In the mean time the Turkish state offers limited protection, recognising the refugee status to Europeans, while non-Europeans receive temporary protection status and are expected at some point to be relocated in a third country.
This report provides an overview of migration in general and the position of Syrian refugees in Turkey today, in particular. The report also evaluates the policy approaches towards the displaced Syrians in Turkey, shows the changes in terms of asylum and protection and discusses the challenges and future policy directions in this field.
Source: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/syrian-refugees-turkey-long-road-ahead
The reception policies in Turkey were based on the assumption that the situation in Syria would not last long and thus the displaced Syrians would be able to return home. However conditions continue to deteriorate in Syria and the conflict is now in its fifth year. It has therefore become clear that a political change, to provide long term solutions, is needed.
According to the report, the implementation of migration reforms to align Turkish legislation to EU standards has limited Turkish authorities' capacity to manage Syrian migrant flows and hence the crisis management was left largely to national organisations operating on the ground. In the mean time the Turkish state offers limited protection, recognising the refugee status to Europeans, while non-Europeans receive temporary protection status and are expected at some point to be relocated in a third country.
This report provides an overview of migration in general and the position of Syrian refugees in Turkey today, in particular. The report also evaluates the policy approaches towards the displaced Syrians in Turkey, shows the changes in terms of asylum and protection and discusses the challenges and future policy directions in this field.
Source: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/syrian-refugees-turkey-long-road-ahead
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