Forced Migration in the OIC Member Countries:
Policy Framework Adopted by Host Countries
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phenomenon perpetuates the poverty of Syrian families, just as it affects poor, native-born
Turkish citizens.
Child labor is a common survival strategy for Syrian families in Turkey.33 Child workers are
often preferred to adults in textiles and agriculture because they can be paid lower wages.34
The need for children to provide for their families has robbed many of the opportunity to
attend school, thus raising the fear of a “lost generation” of uneducated Syrian children.35
To alleviate the poverty of struggling forced migrant populations in Turkey, the most urgent
needs are in the areas of housing, health, employment, and education.
Housing
Accommodation in a host country is a basic need of forced migrants, but in Turkey, the state
provides housing for only those who stay in refugee camps, known as Temporary
Accommodation Centers. For Syrian beneficiaries of temporary protection, 26 Temporary
Accommodation Centers of a very high standard have been constructed, altogether housing
257,713 individuals as of June 2016 .36 The Temporary Accommodation Centers are funded
and run by AFAD. Kizilay (The Turkish Red Crescent Society) and the World Food Programme
provide food assistance of USD 17 per person each month to 150,000 residents in 11 camps.
These camps provide shelter, food, primary health care, education, vocational training, and a
monthly allowance as well as amenities such as playgrounds and laundry rooms.37 However,
the camps only accommodate 9.5 percent of the Syrian population, and AFAD has a long
waiting list of people who want to move in but cannot do so owing to the lack of additional
housing. Some Syrians perceive opportunities (for education, for example) to be better than
those available outside the camps, while others reportedly choose not to live in camps due to
crowding, restrictions on mobility, and a preference to seek work opportunities.38 For non-
Syrians, there are two Reception and Accommodation Centers: one in Yozgat with a capacity of
100, and another in Erzurum with capacity for 750.39 Outside the camps, non-Syrian and
Syrian forced migrants are expected to find and finance their own housing, and often end up
with several families in small, squalid spaces on the outskirts of large cities.
In addition to housing, Turkey permits applicants for international protection to apply to the
Social Solidarity and Assistance Foundations for financial aid, which may help to cover rent
payments or other needs. Non-Syrians may also apply for assistance to DGMM. In practice,
however, these organizations are overwhelmed by other tasks and lack of funds, and have
33 Human Rights Watch, ‘When I Picture My Future, I See Nothing.’
34 Daryl Grisgraber and Ann Hollingsworth, Planting the Seeds of Success? Turkey’s New Refugee Work Permits, (Refugees
International Field Report, April 14, 2016), 5,
35 Kirişci and Ferris, Not Likely to Go Home . 11.
36As of 19 May 2016, the number of Syrian refugees in camps is 9.5 percent of the total Syrian population in Turkey. See
Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Başbakanlık Afet ve Acil Durum Yönetimi Başkanlığı (AFAD), “Barınma Merkezlerinde Son Durum,”
accessed May 24, 2016,
DGMM, “Geçici Koruma,” accessed May 5, 2016.
37 Osman Bahadır Dinçer et al., Turkey and Syrian Refugees: The Limits of Hospitality (Washington, DC: Brookings, 2013), 12,
38 Communication from COMCEC, July 1, 2016; Metin Çorabatır, The Evolving Approach to Protection in Turkey: Assessing the
Practical and Political Needs (Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2016), 16. (forthcoming)
39 Refugee Rights Turkey, Country Report: Turkey, 75.