[Webinar] Temporary protection in Türkiye: Current realities and future pathways

Join us for this webinar where we will examine and analyse the basics of temporary protection, with a specific focus on the Temporary Protection Regulation in Türkiye. Can this status created to meet the needs of Syrians temporarily, keep meeting their needs after ten years and are there alternative solutions?

2024 is the tenth year of the entry into force of the Temporary Protection Regulation in Türkiye. It governs the status and rights of more than 3.2 million people who fled the conflict in Syria after April 2011. Modelled after the EU’s Temporary Protection Directive, the Regulation creates a legal regime that grants its beneficiaries protection against forcible return to Syria as well as access to certain fundamental rights, such as access to healthcare, education, social assistance as well as access to the labour market. This status has been designed to apply in cases of mass influx of people where individual status determination is not practicable. While the maximum time envisaged for temporary protection under the EU’s Directive is 3 years, some of the Syrians who have been granted this right will have been residing in Türkiye for more than ten years. This is a substantial period of time that necessitates examining and questioning the basics of temporary protection. Some of the questions addressed in this seminar will be:

• Can this status created to meet the needs of Syrians temporarily, keep meeting their needs after ten years?
• What are the rights granted under this regime and is there a gap between what is on paper and reality?
• Are the rights granted under this regime sufficient for the integration of Syrians in Turkey?
• What have been the main tenets of Türkiye’s integration policy?
• What are the factors contributing to the failure of this policy?
• What role has the EU played as far as meeting the needs of Syrians enjoying temporary protection in Türkiye is concerned?
• Is there a limit in terms of how long this regime might stay in place?
• What are possible alternative solutions?

Programme:

14.30 – 14.35 Welcome

14.35 – 14.50 Assist. Prof. Neva Övünç Özturk, Ankara University – "The Nature of Temporary Protection in Türkiye and its Effects on Access to Fundamental Rights: Who is protected and to what extent?"

14.50 – 15.05 Dr. Hakkı Onur Arıner, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH – "Integration of Syrians in Türkiye: Explaining the Growing Social Distance and What to Expect in the Future"

15.05 – 15.20 Assist. Prof. Ayşe Dicle Ergin, Bilkent University – “The Future of Temporary Protection in Türkiye: What next?”

15.20 – 16.00 Q&A

Contact 
For more information or questions, please contact conferencemanager@asser.nl. We will respond to you within two working days.