Article 49 TPR appears to grant temporary protection beneficiaries the possibility of “making a request” for family reunification in Türkiye with family members outside Türkiye. While the article provides that PMM shall “evaluate such requests”, the wording of this provision does not indicate strictly a right to family reunification for beneficiaries. It is rather worded as a possibility subject to the discretion of PMM.
According to Article 3 TPR, a beneficiary’s spouse, minor children and dependent adult children are defined as family members. The article also provides that in the case of unaccompanied children, “family unification steps shall be initiated without delay without the need for the child to make a request”.
In practice, Türk Kızılay is the main actor working on family reunification applications, especially reunification of children with their families in Türkiye, while AFAD manages family reunification requests in the border regions. According to Türk Kızlay, it had received 110 requests for family reunification as of December 2022, but only 9 instances were satisfactorily handled. They also provide family tracing and messaging services. Only 8 of 238 family tracing requests were met, and only 33 of 119 family messaging requests were delivered successfully. Türk Kzlay initiated a fund-raising drive in 2022 to support their family reunification activities.
[1] Information provided by Turk Kizilay, June 2023.