WUNRN
Turkey
Strengthens Rights of Syrian Refugees – Women to Benefit from Legal ID’s
Syrians in Ankara, Turkey, in November. The new measure
provides for access to education and basic health care but stops short of
official refugee status. Credit Umit Bektas/Reuters \
By CEYLAN YEGINSU
- DEC. 29, 2014
ISTANBUL — Turkey has
issued new regulations that grant Syrian refugees secure
legal status in the country for the first time, clarifying and expanding rights
for more than a million people who are rapidly assimilating into Turkish
society.
After spending nearly four years under temporary protection, in recent
weeks the refugees have begun to receive new identification cards under a
measure passed by the Council of Ministers in October granting them access to
basic services like health care and education.
The regulation stops short of granting Syrians official refugee status, which
would entitle them to a broader array of benefits like housing, public relief
and various social services.
Displaced Syrians waited with their belongings in early October for
transportation to camps after crossing the border into Turkey. Credit Bryan
Denton for The New York Times
Nevertheless, most refugees have welcomed it as an indication of Turkey’s
commitment to easing the rigors of their lives as their displacement takes on a
sense of permanence, with Syria’s civil
war raging on with no end in sight.
Turkey
is now host to 1.6 million displaced Syrians, about half of the total number of
people who have fled fighting that broke out nearly four years ago. Until now,
the refugees had been labeled “guests” under a hazily defined temporary
protection measure.
With Turkey’s 22 refugee camps operating
at capacity, around 85 percent of the Syrian refugees there have streamed into
urban areas seeking jobs and more permanent living arrangements. The new ID
cards have been designed to give more straightforward access to a wider range
of services outside of the camps.
On a recent afternoon at a police station here, dozens of Syrian refugees
amassed outside the registration bureau for foreigners, waiting to collect
their new cards.
“Syrians used to avoid coming to the station out of fear that they would be
deported,” said one of the police officers overseeing the registration process.
“But these cards have brought them out of the shadows into the light. They now
have physical proof of their legal rights.”
The international response to the refugee disaster has been relatively
limited, forcing the neighboring countries to take on a disproportionate amount
of the burden, with Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq absorbing 97 percent of Syria’s
refugees, according to the United Nations’ refugee agency.
For Turkey, the ceaseless influx of refugees has greatly strained its
open-door policy, while the recent drop in commodities prices worldwide has put
new strains on the national budget.
Andrew Gardner, Turkey researcher for Amnesty International, praised the
country’s new temporary protection regime as “a big step forward,” as it grants
refugees a secure legal status. “The fact that the refugees’ rights and
entitlements have been written into law should mean that authorities better
implement them,” he added.
But not all Syrians are lining up to obtain these rights. Many have their
sights set on seeking asylum in Western Europe, a prospect that some believe
could be jeopardized by the new ID cards through their requirement of biometric
data.
“I think the data could be used by Europe to send us back when we get
smuggled there,” said Mohammad, 23, who declined to give his surname. “I’m only
in Turkey to leave to Europe, I don’t need the ID. When I see the police
gathering Syrians in the park for registration, I run away.”
Even refugees who have already received the new ID cards can be skeptical
that the new provisions will have much of an impact on their quality of life,
and continue to look for a way out of Turkey.
Marwan Ali, 35, a tailor, said his main incentive for registering was to
receive vaccinations for his daughter and regular access
to health care for his pregnant wife. “Without the ID cards, the hospitals send
you away,” he explained.
But Mr. Ali quickly added that he had submitted an application for asylum
in Europe. “Life is hard here,” he said. “You make less than $200 a month. It’s
hard to survive with a family.”
A vast majority of refugees who settle in large cities are destitute. The
greatest challenge for Syrians living outside the camps is finding and
sustaining employment. Under Turkish labor laws, Syrian refugees do not have
the right to work, which makes them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
A separate proposal to regulate working conditions for the refugees was
recently submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval. If the measure
passes, as expected, Syrians will be able to apply for conditional work permits
with their new ID cards, something that is likely to foster resentment in
regions where unemployment is high.
That job competition, as well as the emergence of violence and higher crime
rates in cities with high concentrations of Syrians, has soured the Turkish
public on the refugees, with two-thirds of Turks now favoring more restrictive
policies, according to the 2014 Transatlantic Trends Survey.
This month, a group of Syrian agricultural workers in the southern province
of Antalya were attacked by a group of local workers, who stoned them and their
houses, injuring several. The day before, the governor had sent a notification
demanding the deportation of up to 1,500 Syrian refugees, citing growing
concerns over “unrest," which he claimed had caused damage to the tourism
ministry, local news media reported.
Nurcan Onder, the deputy director general for labor, said the work permits
would not put refugees in direct competition with Turkish citizens for jobs,
and should alleviate some tensions.
“The regulation will clearly define specific sectors and locations where
Syrians can apply for work permits, and quotas will be applied in workplaces to
manage the supply and demand,” Ms. Onder said.
Some refugee advocates say that the new directive is too focused on the
regulatory aspects of the refugee influx, such as entry and registration, and
that it has failed to address the needs of refugees that are essential to
meeting longer-term integration goals.
“Most Syrian refugees live in urban areas, and the conditions are
deteriorating as winter sets in, but none of their real needs, like housing,
are met properly,” said Metin Corabatir, deputy director of the Center for
Immigration and Asylum Studies.
“They are considered as people under a temporary protection regime, but the
regime does not provide enough assistance and protection for those outside of
the camps,” he added.
The directive has also come under criticism for its failure to define the
time frame for the temporary protection — in theory it could be repealed at any
time.