Although Turkey is a party to the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention, it implements it with "geographic limitation".
Geographical Limitation
- Turkey only counts those coming from Council of Europe members as "refugees"
- Those coming from outside Europe are called "conditional refugees" or "secondary refugees". protection"
Types of Protection
- Refugee: From Europe + Geneva criteria
- Conditional refugee: Non-European + Geneva criteria
- Secondary protection: Non-Geneva but real danger
- Temporary protection: Syrians (mass flock)
Application Process
- Application at the border or to the Provincial Immigration Administration
- Registration + biometric data
- Interview
- Decision (between 1-3 years)
- Protected status → ID card
Rights and Obligations
- Legal stay
- Work permit (limited)
- Access to health
- Education
- Social assistance
- Non-refoulement in Türkiye
Settlement in a Third Country
- Through UNHCR
- Europe, Canada, USA
- Annual quota limited
Constitutional Court/ECHR
The Constitutional Court and the ECHR accept that the ban on deportation (non-refoulement) is "absolute", and that one cannot be sent to a dangerous country even if there is suspicion of terrorism or crime.
Foreigners/human rights lawyer is recommended.