Forced Migration in the OIC Member Countries:
Policy Framework Adopted by Host Countries
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immediately (although the agency became operational only one year later). The other four
substantive sections came into force one year later.21
Article I of the Law states:
“The purpose of this Law is to regulate the principles and procedures with regard to
foreigners’ entry into, stay in and exit from Turkey, and the scope and implementation
of the protection to be provided for foreigners who seek protection from Turkey, and
the establishment, duties, mandate and responsibilities of the Directorate General of
Migration Management under the Ministry of the Interior.”22
Crucially for forced migrants, Article 4 of the Law on nonrefoulement provides that “No one
within the scope of this Law shall be returned to a place where he or she may be subjected to
torture, inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment or, where his life or freedom would
be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social
group or political opinion.”23 In practice, Turkey respects the obligation of nonrefoulement
and was providing protection to more than 2.7 million people by the end of 2015.24
The Law on Foreigners and International Protection provides several different types of status
which provide virtually everyone who has protection in Turkey with temporary protection.
While refugee protection is available under the Law—and Article 4 brings Turkey’s domestic
law into conformity with both the 1951 Refugee Convention and the Convention against
Torture—the Law contains one crucial caveat: full refugee status continues to be limited to
those fleeing events in Europe (Article 61). Under the law, people whose fear derives from
events outside of Europe may be granted conditional refugee status, which allows them to
“reside in Turkey temporarily until they are resettled in a third country” (Article 62). A third
status, subsidiary protection, applies to people who do not qualify as refugees or conditional
refugees but who nonetheless would face threats from generalized violence, or be subject to
torture or the death penalty, if they were returned to their countries of origin (Article 63).25
Forced migrants from Iraq are the largest group with subsidiary protection. Article 91 of the
Law on Foreigners and International Protection provides the basis for establishing a
temporary protection regime for people who arrive in a mass influx seeking “immediate and
temporary protection;” temporary protection is granted on a prima facie basis.
On October 22, 2014, the government signed a Temporary Protection Regulation that applies
the temporary protection mechanism to Syrians in Turkey.26 The Temporary Protection
Regulation establishes the procedures, rights and benefits of people arriving in Turkey as part
of a mass influx, which is declared by the Council of Ministers. People registered as Temporary
Protection beneficiaries are not permitted to apply simultaneously for refugee status
21 The other four sections of the Law deal with 1) Purpose, Scope, Definitions and Nonrefoulement; 2) Foreigners; 3)
International Protection; and 4) Common Provisions Regarding Foreigners and International Protection. Turkey Migration,
Republic of Turkey Ministry of Interior, Directorate General of Migration Management, Publishing No, 19, Ankara,
September 2014.
22 Law on Foreigners and International Protection (unofficial translation), Republic of Turkey Ministry of Interior,
Directorate General of Migration Management, Publishing No. 8, Ankara, May 2014,
23 Ibid.
24 UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2015, (Geneva: UNHCR, 2016),
25 The definition of Subsidiary Protection in the Law on Foreigners and International Protection aligns closely with that laid
out under EU law. See EU Directive 2011/95/EU,
26 Provisional Article 1 states directly that Syrians fall under this regime.