One of the most prominent shortcomings of Türkiye’s legal framework for asylum is the failure to commit to providing state-funded accommodation to asylum applicants. Article 95(1) LFIP clearly establishes that as a rule, international protection applicants and status holders shall secure their own accommodation by their own means. Neither the LFIP nor the RFIP indicate any plans to offer international protection applicants financial assistance to cover housing expenses.
The PMM is authorised to set up Reception and Accommodation Centres to be used to address “accommodation, nutrition, health care, social and other needs” of international protection applicants and status holders.[1] The Reception and Accommodation Centres referred to in Article 95 LFIP should not be confused with the “temporary accommodation centres”, the large-scale camps in the south of Türkiye that accommodate refugees from Syria subject to the temporary protection regime (see Temporary Protection: Housing).
As of June 2022, there was only one remaining Reception and Accommodation Centre in operation in the province of Yozgat[2] with a modest capacity of 100 places. The centre is envisioned as a short-stay facility, where persons apprehended and wishing to apply for international protection may be hosted for a couple of days before being directed to register their application. In practice, these centres are mainly available to applicants with special needs such as victims of gender-based violence, torture or physical violence, single women, elderly and disabled people. Foreign terrorist fighters are not permitted to access the centre. According to the TIHEK report, the foreigners who have stayed the longest in the facility include a Syrian woman and her two children who were admitted in 2011.[3]
In emergencies involving urgent cases, NGOs may be able to arrange accommodation in hotels for individual applicants with special needs within the remit of their capacities however they have been advocating for more Reception and Accommodation Centers to be built instead of removal centers.
[1] Article 95(2) LFIP.
[2] Human Rights and Equality Commission of Türkiye, ‘Visit to Yozgat Reception and Accommodation Center’, 15 June 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3NlaOnT.
[3] Ibid.