Forced Migration in the OIC Member Countries:
Policy Framework Adopted by Host Countries
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Turkey at a disadvantage in the competition for international humanitarian aid. The Turkish
government has spent as much as USD 10 billion on humanitarian assistance and in the
establishment of its protection regime.93 However, as of June 2016, it said it had received only
USD 455 million from the international community.94 Funds pledged under the EU-Turkey
statement may change this calculus substantially if the statement is fully implemented, but as
of June 2016 the flow of funds was as yet only a trickle.95 In addition to Turkey-specific
funding requirements, UNHCR programs affecting Turkey have also been underfunded. The
3RP Regional Refugee Resilience Plan was over 60 percent unfunded for 2015-2016.96
Without funding, Turkey will have difficulty implementing and monitoring programs for
poverty alleviation among protected populations.
The strains on local Turkish communities resulting from absorbing millions of refugees and
asylum seekers have been especially acute. Newcomers are seen in many cities as culturally
distinct, and expectations about the length of their stay have been wildly inaccurate.97
The first evident impact of the mass influx of Syrian forced migrants in Turkey has been a
rapid increase in competition in both the labor and housing markets. Several studies have
suggested that the classic model of Syrians replacing Turks in low-skilled, informal work
misses key parts of the story. A 2013 economic analysis for the World Bank acknowledged
that Syrians do replace Turks in informal jobs, but found that more formal jobs, with better
pay, have been created for Turks in the same sectors.98 A more recent study in 2015 found
that natives’ employment rates are unaffected by refugee arrivals, with larger impacts felt
through local inflation of prices.99 Despite these results, perceptions of Syrians taking Turkish
jobs resonate strongly. As part of a study conducted by ORSAM, 40 to 100 percent of laid-off
Turkish workers surveyed believed Syrians were to blame for their dismissal.100
In addition to competition in the labor force, it has been reported that Syrian small businesses
sometimes engage in unfair competition with Turkish rivals, for example if they fail to register
with the local chamber of commerce and thus avoid paying taxes.101 Competition has also had
an impact on the housing market, where Turkish tenants have reported being evicted so that
landlords can install Syrian renters who they can charge more for less service.102
Increased competition with forced migrants might make life more difficult for locals, but it
cannot be overlooked that some Turks have benefitted from this phenomenon. Turkish
93 Bas Haber, “Erdoğan: Suriyelilere 10 milyar dolar harcadık,” May 17, 2016,
($10 billion) ; Metin Çorabatır, The
Evolving Approach to Protection in Turkey, 19 ($10 billion) ; Grisgraber and Hollingsworth, Planting the Seeds of Success?
Turkey’s New Refugee Work Permits ($8 billion) ; Kirişci and Ferris, Not Likely to Go Home, 3 ($5.6 billion).
94 Kirişci and Ferris, Not Likely to Go Home , 3.
95 AFAD, “Giriş,” accessed July 8, 2016,
96 Kirişci and Ferris, Not Likely to Go Home , 2.
97 M. Murat Erdoğan, Syrians in Turkey: Social Acceptance and Integration Research (Ankara: Hacettepe University Migration
and Politics Research Center, November 2014); ORSAM and TESEV, Effects of the Syrian Refugees on Turkey.
98 Ximena V. del Carpio and Mathis Wagner, The Impact of Syrian Refugees on the Turkish Labor Market (World Bank Policy
Research Working Paper No. 7402, August 24, 2015),
99 Yusuf Emre Akgündüz, Marcel van den Berg and Wolter Hassink, The Impact of Refugee Crises on Host Labor Markets: The
Case of the Syrian Refugee Crisis in Turkey (IZA Discussion Paper No. 8841, February 2015),
100 ORSAM and TESEV, Effects of the Syrian Refugees on Turkey, 17.
101 ORSAM and TESEV, Effects of the Syrian Refugees on Turkey, 8 ; Syria Research and Evaluation Organization (SREO), The
Socioeconomic Impact of Syrian Urban Refugees in Gaziantep: An Initial Assessment (SREO, October 2013), 18,
102 ORSAM and TESEV, Effects of the Syrian Refugees on Turkey, 17