Article 6 TPR guarantees protection from refoulement to persons granted temporary protection. However, an exception to this rule was introduced by way of emergency decree in October 2016, providing that a deportation decision “may be taken at any time during the international protection proceedings” against an applicant for reasons of: (i) leadership, membership or support of a terrorist organisation or a benefit-oriented criminal group; (ii) threat to public order or public health; or (iii) relation to terrorist organisations defined by international institutions and organisations.[1] The reform was consolidated by Law No 7070 on 1 February 2018. According to changes to the LFIP in December 2019, entry bans shall be applied to those who are in the country,[2] and Syrians that are under temporary protection shall be deported if they do not comply with their notification duty three times consecutively.[3]
Since 2018, deportation decisions have been increasingly issued to registered Syrians based on the abovementioned provisions, similar to persons seeking international protection in Türkiye. In 2022, the European Court of Human Rights found a violation of article 3, 5 and 13 of the ECHR in Akkad v. Türkiye judgement on the ground of expulsion of the temporary protection holder applicant to Syria.[4]
In 2021, Türkiye initiated talks with the UN about returning Syrians, but deportation decisions are still being issued. The İzmir Administrative Court developed jurisprudence in late 2021, allowing Syrians to be deported to a safe country. This policy encourages irregular status, leading to parents not enrolling children in school and some irregular refugee workers losing their lives in İzmir.[5]
For a discussion on case law of Administrative Courts and the Constitutional Court on the derogation from non-refoulement, see also International Protection: Removal and Refoulement. For more information on the safe third country concept as applied to Syrians in 2022, see the section on the Safe third country.
[1] Article 54(2) LFIP, as amended by Article 36 Emergency Decree 676 of 29 October 2016. The provision cites Article 54(1)(b), (d) and (k) LFIP, the latter inserted by Emergency Decree 676.
[2] Mülteci-Der, Joint Assessment: Proposed Amendments in the Law on Foreigners and International Protection of Türkiye, 4 December 2019, available at: http://bit.ly/2IRYoVQ.
[3] Evrensel, ‘Statü hakkı tanınmayan mülteciler yeni yaptırımlarla karşı karşıya’, 25 December 2019, available in Turkish at: http://bit.ly/2IL7kwp.
[4] HUDOC, available at: https://bit.ly/3rxFop9.
[5] Information provided by a stakeholder, May 2022.