The TPR provides a registration procedure and envisions the issuing of Temporary Protection Identification Documents (Geçici Koruma Kimlik Belgesi) to beneficiaries upon registration.[1] This card serves as the document asserting the concerned person’s status as a beneficiary of temporary protection.
Article 25 TPR explicitly excludes temporary protection beneficiaries from the possibility of long-term legal integration in Türkiye. According to Article 25, the Temporary Protection Identification Document issued to beneficiaries does not serve as residence permit as such, may not lead to “long term residence permit” in Türkiye in accordance with Articles 42 and 43 LFIP.
Temporary Protection Identification Documents list a Foreigners Identification Number (YKN) assigned to each beneficiary by the Directorate General of Population and Citizenship Affairs. In Türkiye, all legally resident foreign nationals are assigned YKN which serve to facilitate their access to all government services. International protection applicants and status holders within the framework of LFIP are also given such YKN. Currently, YKN assigned to all categories of legally resident foreign nationals, including temporary protection beneficiaries, categorically start with the digits of 99.
A verification and update process of data of Syrians under temporary protection was completed at the end of 2018, in close cooperation with UNHCR.[2] UNHCR reported that 96% of the verification target across Türkiye was met through this exercise.[3] According to stakeholders, however, the verification process only covered about 50 to 60% of temporary protection beneficiaries in regions such as İstanbul, Şanlıurfa or Hatay.[4]
There had been a statement in 2019 that Syrians would be deported if they did not go to the provinces where they were registered. This process was called ‘address verification,’ and it was still in progress in İzmir in 2021. If it is determined that the person is not in the province where they are registered, their registration is deactivated, but it is not canceled. It is legally impossible to deport many of the people so PMM has difficulty imposing a sanction. People who are taken into administrative detention have said they are being forced to return voluntarily, but it is difficult to prove.[5] Voluntary return forms need to be signed under the supervision of the Red Crescent and UNHCR, but this rule may not be followed. In some cases, law enforcement pushes people across the border without being registered. Or they are forced to return voluntarily by restricting their fundamental rights and freedoms. Address verifications were also started in Ankara and Central Anatolia. If the Syrian applicant cannot be found at the specific address, their IDs can be cancelled. Their IDs were reactivated when they went to PDMM, but those who could not go to PDMM lost their IDs. It is estimated by Syrian led NGOs and activists that 150 000 IDs have been cancelled as of April 2022.[6] At the same time, it is impossible to get an appointment from the Syrian Embassy, and people have to pay.
[1] Article 2 TPR.
[2] DGMM, ‘Türkiye’de Geçici Koruma Kapsamında Bulunan Yabancıların Kişisel Verilerinin Doğrulanması’, 22 March 2018, available in Turkish at: https://bit.ly/2pIttBt.
[3] UNHCR, Türkiye: Operational Update 2018 Highlights, available at: https://bit.ly/2Cr3tBB.
[4] Information provided by an NGO, February 2019.
[5] Information from a stakeholder, April 2022.
[6] Ömer Sönmez, ‘Algazi: The annulment of the identity of 150 thousand Syrians marks a change in policy’, Rudaw, 28 April 2022. Available in Turkish at: https://bit.ly/3OR05U0.