Ongoing Introductory Events for the Regulation on Foreigners and International Protection

Erupted in 2011 in Turkey’s neighboring country Syria, Syrian War has been the biggest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War; and Turkey has become the most critical country as a shelter for the victims of war. 

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) data dated June 13, 2019, Turkey is hosting 3,614,108 people because of the humanitarian crisis in Syria. Around %64.1 of people who had to flee Syria due to the crisis have taken shelter in Turkey. Additionally, UNHCR data indicates that Turkey is also a host country for other 365,000 people in similar conditions in addition to those who have fled Syria to shelter in Turkey.

As WALD, we base our principles on the fact that refugees are part of the community and thus attach importance to refugees' right to exercise basic human rights and have shelter, nutrition, health and humane jobs. We show deep sensitivity to this matter.

Local governments are the closest service point to individuals. Therefore, local governments should have knowledge of the rights and obligations of refugees, particularly “Regulation on Foreigners and International Protection”. It is also important to support local governments in terms of false facts about refugees' and raise their awareness.

In this regard, we, as WALD, carry out regular informative activities for our personnel working in municipalities and other public institutions in the cities where we have Social Protection Desks. In November, informative trainings about the Regulation on Foreigners and International Protection were delivered to the staff of Sancaktepe Municipality Social Assistance Works, teachers of Sancaktepe Veysel Karani Secondary School, public personnel within the borders of Bağcılar Municipality and school counselors of 128 schools within the district of Bağcılar. In total, nearly 200 public personnel participated in these online meetings. 

Launched with an introduction to Social Protection Project and followed by Interactive discussions, the meeting continued with information about main differences between legal support, access to rights, migration, international protection and temporary protection concepts; statuses of foreigners in Turkey, their rights and obligations, and false facts about refugees. 

Regulation on Foreigners and International Protection can be downloaded here.