The following categories of persons are excluded of benefitting from temporary protection in Türkiye:[1]
- Persons for whom there is serious reason to believe that they have been guilty of acts defined in Article 1F of the 1951 Convention;
- Persons for whom there is serious reason to believe that they have engaged in acts of cruelty, for whatever rationale, prior to arrival in Türkiye;
- Persons who have either participated in or provoked crimes or acts referred to in 1 and 2 above;
ç. Persons, who, having participated in armed conflict in country of origin, have not permanently ceased armed activities after arrival in Türkiye;
- Persons proven to have engaged, planned or participated in terrorist activities;
- Persons who have been convicted of a serious crime and therefore deemed to be presenting a threat against society; and those who are deemed to present danger to national security, public order and public security;
- Persons, who prior to their arrival in Türkiye, committed crimes that would be punishable with a prison sentence in Türkiye, and have left country of origin or residence in order to avoid punishment;
- Persons convicted of crimes against humanity by international courts;
- Persons who commit any of the crimes listed in Article 4(7) of the Turkish Criminal Code i.e. crimes related to state secrets and espionage.
Such cancellation is applied in practice for temporary protection holders designated as foreign terrorist fighters (YTS), for example, even where criminal proceedings have not led to a conviction.[2] In some cases, DGMM has also ordered cancellation on the basis of Article 8(1)(e) TPR.[3] It has also been applied in cases of inconsistencies between the personal details in the Temporary Protection Identification Document and the passport of the refugee, which have been determined as provision of misleading information to PMM.[4]
PMM is responsible and authorised to carry out and finalise the exclusion assessments and to communicate exclusion decisions to the persons concerned. Where it is identified that an existing beneficiary falls within the exclusion grounds listed above, their temporary protection status shall be cancelled. DGMM can delegate this power to governorates as of 25 December 2019.[5]
Nevertheless, given that the LFIP provides for a derogation from non-refoulement, temporary protection beneficiaries may also be subject to removal procedures without their status being cancelled. Such deportation cases were frequent in 2018 (see Protection from Refoulement).
In 2020, beneficiaries of temporary protection were not informed by the authorities of the cancellation of their protection. They did not receive any written document providing the grounds for such cancellation; thus preventing any possibilities to appeal. Most of them learned about the cancellation of their temporary protection when going to a PDMM for other reasons, such as updating data or when their General Health Insurance (GSS) was deactivated.
In 2020 cancellation of temporary protection was prevalent in the south east region because of people ‘being a threat to public security’, not paying administrative fines or not updating data. Those who were involved in the Edirne/Pazarkule incidents described in Access to the territory and push backs also lost their temporary protection. The cancellation of temporary protection was also prevalent in Konya where there are many Syrians. Reasons included allegations of false statements about civil status or again it affected those who went to Edirne in February 2020 to try to cross the border.[6]
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. 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.[7] At the same time, it is impossible to get an appointment from the Syrian Embassy, and people have to pay.
[1] Article 8(1) TPR.
[2] Information provided by a lawyer of the İzmir Bar Association, March 2019.
[3] See e.g. Administrative Court of İzmir, Decision 2018/692, 29 November 2018, which quashed a cancellation decision on the basis that the conviction had not been established.
[4] Information provided by an NGO, February 2019.
[5] Article 12(2) TPR.
[6] Information provided by a stakeholder, March 2021.
[7] Rudaw, ‘Algazi: The annulment of the identity of 150 thousand Syrians marks a change in policy’, 20 April 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3OR05U0.