The temporary protection declaration decision of the Presidency may contain the implementation of temporary protection measures to a specific region within Türkiye as opposed to countrywide implementation.[1] The Presidency has the authority to order limitations on temporary protection measures in place, or the suspension of existing measures for a specific period or indefinitely, “in the event of circumstances threatening national security, public order, public security and public health”.[2]
Article 33 TPR also provides that temporary protection beneficiaries are “obliged to comply with administrative requirements, failure of which will result in administrative sanctions”. Among other requirements, they may be “obliged to reside in the assigned province, temporary accommodation centre or other location” and comply with “reporting requirements as determined by provincial Governorates”. This provision clearly authorises PMM to limit freedom of movement of temporary protection beneficiaries to a particular province, a particular camp or another location.
In August 2015, the Turkish government imposed controls on the movement of Syrians within Türkiye. Stricter restrictions were enforced for temporary protection beneficiaries after an EU-Türkiye statement. Failure to comply with reporting obligations could lead to the withdrawal of temporary protection status and the issuance of a “V71” code indicating an unknown location.
Beneficiaries may request a travel authorisation document in order to travel outside the province in which they are registered. The document is issued at the discretion of the competent Governorate and may not exceed 90 days in duration, subject to a possible extension for another 15 days. The beneficiary is required to notify the Governorate upon return to the province. Failure to do so after the expiry of the 90-day period leads to a “V71” code, as a result of which the person’s status is considered to be implicitly withdrawn. The “V71” code is deactivated if the person approaches the PDMM with valid justification, following an assessment of the case.
Movements of temporary protection beneficiaries seem to continue, nevertheless. PMM statistics on apprehensions for irregular migration do not discern irregular entries from irregular exits from Türkiye, yet indicate that the majority of apprehensions occur in western and southern provinces. By the end of 2022 around 40,000 Syrians accounted of the total number of 285,027 apprehensions across the country. The largest group at 115,775 were Afghans. The number had nearly doubled comparing to 2021.[3]
Temporary protection beneficiaries may also move between provinces inter alia to seek employment. To reduce informal employment, the Ministry of Family and Social Services has provided employers with the possibility to make one official declaration before a public notary that a beneficiary is starting employment, in order for that beneficiary to transfer their place of residence within 30 days. However, due to obstacles in obtaining a work permit (see Access to the Labour Market), and to the fact that employers do not actively make the necessary official declarations, they are not able to change their address from the place of first registration to Ankara. In addition, work permits were previously considered a valid reason for address changes; however, after 2022, address changes based on work permits became nearly impossible in cities closed to registration.[4]
In October 2022, the Governor of İstanbul reported that the number of Syrians living in İstanbul under temporary protection had been slightly increased to 551,829.[5] The Turkish authorities reportedly arrested about 143,457 irregular migrants in İstanbul.[6] In early 2022, it was formalized in the “25% rule”, whereby from May 2022 it is against the law for any region or area in Türkiye to have a population of foreign nationals that is more than one-quarter of the total population. This includes both people who have made Türkiye their permanent home and those who are merely visiting the country. As of 1 July 2022, 1,169 neighbourhoods in different provinces are now closed to foreign nationals seeking address registrations for temporary protection, international protection, and residence permits, as well as changes to their city of residence if they are foreign nationals with residence permits or are under temporary or international protection, with the exception of newborns and instances of nuclear family reunification. In total, 58 cities got impacted by this new policy and Aydin, Antalya, Ankara, Bursa, Canakkale, Duzce, Edirne, Hatay, İstanbul, İzmir, Kirklarareli, Kocaeli, Muğla, Sakarya, Tekirdag and Yalova are some of the cities that fall into this category.[7]
[1] Article 10(1)(ç) TPR.
[2] Article 15(1) TPR.
[3] PMM, Irregular migration statistics, available at: https://bit.ly/3ng8jbj.
[4] Hayata Destek Online, ‘Adres Kayıt ve Güncelleme İşlemleri Nasıl Yapılır?’, 12 April 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/43oBSeb.
[5] T.C. İçişleri Bakanlığı, Twitter, available at: https://bit.ly/3rue5MI.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Mülteciler Derneği, ‘Türkiye’deki Suriyeli Sayısı Haziran 2023’, 2023, avaible at: https://bit.ly/3JXIpFF.