Turkey
At the bridge between the east and west, Turkey is currently at the unique position of being a safe haven from those escaping persecution in Africa and the Middle East, while also being a passageway to Europe. It is also unique because unlike the United States, Canada and Europe, many people already are in Turkey, is the object of helping them settle there as a home is what is trying to be attained.
Since 2015, the Directorate General for Migration Management (DGMM) has referred over 90,000 Syrians for resettlement processing. DGMM coordinates the collection of referrals from the provincial authorities (multi-agency committees undertake the initial identification based on global resettlement criteria) and forwards them to UNHCR.
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Since 2017, the provincial authorities also receive lists of vulnerable refugees through the verification of registration of Syrians under Temporary Protection, carried out by DGMM with support from UNHCR.
UNHCR has a merged procedure, encompassing refugee status determination and resettlement for Syrians, once referrals are received, in a multi-stage resettlement review process where resettlement cases are selected based on the global resettlement criteria. For the majority of countries to which cases are presented, the process consists of the following stages:
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Pre-assessment – a phone interview to establish the refugee’s presence in Turkey, familycomposition and interest in resettlement.
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Resettlement interview – an in-depth, in-person interview to assess the eligibility of a case for resettlement according to the global resettlement criteria.
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DGMM provides important logistical support for missions to conduct resettlement interviews in the various provinces across Turkey by providing facilities for interviews, facilitating the movement of refugees and coordinating with security and police authorities. The unique aspect of Turkey's process is that most of the refugees who are resettled are already living in Turkey, but by entering this program they can attain legal status and resources. In most other, the person has to be transported to the country and have to assimilate. For many of the people, they have to migrate to Turkey because of its location and its culture may more closely resemble the one of their home country.
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IOM works closely with UNHCR and resettlement countries to provide support with health assessments and travel health assistance, pre-departure orientation and movement and travel operations.
