Introduction
Refugees
and asylum seekers are rampant in the European Union, especially in Turkey.
Most refugees come from the Middle East due to war and conflict. Most of these
refugees came using land and sea routes. By land and sea, the first place to go
is Turkey (UNHCR, 2021a). Turkey is already home
to 3.6 million Syrian refugees. In 2016, Turkey promised to combat unlawful
migration as part of a refugee accord with the European Union. The agreement
also states that the European Union has the authority to deport all refugees
and immigrants who enter Greece illegally through Turkey. In exchange, the EU
receives Syrian refugees from Turkey on a regular basis (Frantzman, 2020).
According to the UNHCR,
the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 outbreak has put hundreds of
thousands of Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries offering sanctuary in
jeopardy. Turkey is home to more than 5.5 million Syrian refugees, making it
the world's largest refugee population. Many refugees live in poverty and find
it difficult to make ends meet. According to the UN refugee agency, a growing
number of refugees are losing their little income as a result of the COVID-19
pandemic's economic depression, pushing them to take extraordinary means to
survive (UNHCR, 2018).
Refugees
are the most vulnerable to COVID-19's effects. Many refugees are vulnerable to
COVID-19, according to the UNHCR, since they lack enough access to clean water,
soap, and sanitizers, as well as the inability of social separation, which is a
requirement for COVID-19 protection. The enormous number of refugees living in
camps will greatly increase the risk of COVID-19 spreading quickly.
Furthermore, the fact that refugees in the camps are suffering from starvation,
lung difficulties from cooking and inhaling bonfire smoke, tuberculosis, battle
wounds, and other pre-existing diseases means their immune systems are weakened (Murdock, n.d.). Many people are finding themselves in situations where
they have limited access to doctors and hospitals, much alone testing, face
masks, experts, and critical care units with ventilators, as a result of
COVID-19. Limited access to credible information, the spread of misinformation,
a lack of effective communication networks, language obstacles, and, in some
circumstances, distrust of authorities are additional challenges for displaced
groups (Priborkin, 2020).
Refugees
who are the most vulnerable to COVID-19 will be a challenge from Turkey. Turkey
itself during this pandemic is still accepting refugees who continue to arrive.
Therefore, this study aims to find out how the policies taken by Turkey towards
refugees during this pandemic and how the government provides policies to
protect refugees from COVID-19.
Turkey
is a country that shares direct borders with both the Asian and European
continents. Due to its history and geography, Turkey is at the epicentre of the
refugee crisis. As a result, Turkey has a refugee policy. Turkey has signed the
1951 convention and the 1967 protocol with geographical limits, according to
Dilek Latif (2002). Since Turkey has signed this, the legal situation of
non-European refugees in Turkey is governed by the Asylum Ordinance of 1994,
which allows non-European refugees temporary asylum while they await
resettlement in a third country. Turkey was obligated to implement its own
refugee status determination, which was promulgated in November 1994, because
the majority of non-European refugees arrived illegally.
Turkey sees the influx of refugees from non-European countries
(the Middle East and Asia) as a
potential security concern. Because there is a large refugee population that might influence social,
economic, and political issues. In the case of national refugees, however, the
criteria for assessing refugee status include a mix of cultural, historical,
and religious aspects. Migration to Turkey is governed by the Settlement Act
(No. 2510). Only persons with ethnic Turkic origin and a Turkish culture are
eligible to migrate, settle, and earn Turkish citizenship under this Act.
In
2013, more than half a million individuals fled to Turkey, seeking sanctuary in
cities and refugee camps. This is owing to Syria's civil conflict, which has
resulted in a large-scale refugee crisis in neighbouring nations. According to
Marcel van den Berg (2015), Syrian refugees in Turkey have had an impact on
food prices, employment levels, and internal movement patterns in the areas
where they are housed. Housing and food prices skyrocketed as a result of this
effect, although the indigenous population's employment rate remained
relatively unchanged.
When
compared to other neighbouring nations such as Lebanon and Jordan, Turkey is
one of the Syrian adjacent countries that gets the most refugees, with a total
of 2.6 million refugees. Turkey's involvement is critical in this regard
because it is not only a host country but also a transit country for millions
of refugees fleeing Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other Asian countries.
Syria has surpassed all expectations in terms of population. As a result,
Turkey has become a transit country for Syrian refugees� route to European
countries. Since March 2011, Turkey has had an open-door policy for Syrian
refugees, according to (Noermanita, 2017). This means that Turkey will grant "temporary
protection" to Syrian refugees as part of its asylum acceptance system.
The next refugee will be transported to a third nation as quickly as possible
under temporary protection.
In
2020, the COVID-19 pandemic will become the main enemy of all countries,
including Turkey. Based on �mer A�ikg�z and Asli G�nay (2020), COVID-19 has
caused global problems and the economy has become unstable. Even people
infected with COVID-19 have the potential to have an impact on health and
economic well-being. This study aims to determine the potential first reaction
of the global economic impact of the pandemic through sectors by assessing the
costs according to the published data for both the world and Turkey. This
pandemic will most likely cause a global economic recession. In addition, due
to the uncertainty of the end of this pandemic, the length and scale of this
contraction cannot be predicted.
Research
on Previous studies have focused more on how Turkey responds to large numbers
of refugees and their impact. The above studies also mostly focus on the
policies taken by Turkey with the arrival of refugees. One of them is that
Turkey applies an open-door policy and temporary protection in responding to
refugees who keep coming, especially refugees from Syria. In another study
explains how Turkey's policy in filtering refugees from outside by implementing
its own policy. In addition, one study explains how COVID-19 can lead to an
economic downturn which will have an impact on refugees.
This
study tries to focus on how the turkey government policy in providing refugee
protection during the pandemic. Refugees are one of the most vulnerable to
COVID-19 transmission. Therefore, this study focuses on how the Turkish
government provides protection to refugees during a pandemic. The author also
discusses how the actions and policies of the Turkish government in accepting
refugees who keep coming.
Methods
This
study focuses on Turkey's policies in accepting refugees and Turkey's
protection of refugees during the COVID-19 period, this study will use a
descriptive qualitative method. The data that will be used in the form of
primary and secondary data, this data will be obtained from the official
website, literature, books, journals, news, and other sources that support and
are relevant. This data will then be analysed, the results will then be described
or interpreted. With the results of this qualitative method, it is possible to
explain Turkey's policies towards refugees in a pandemic and how Turkey's
policies protect refugees.
Result and Discussion
A. Turkey's
Policy in Accepting Refugees
Turkey is the world's greatest
refugee host country, having taken in over 3.6 million refugees. The majority
of these refugees are Syrians who were displaced as a result of the civil war
in 2011. In 2017, Turkey took in 54 percent of all Syrian refugees, with Afghans
hosting 15.7 percent (UNHCR, 2017). Therefore, Turkey has its own internal displacement policy.
One of them, Turkey has a migration strategy which is quite essential in terms
of assisting poorer countries.
As a result of this migration policy,
refugees and asylum seekers will be able to earn greater wages, gain access to
knowledge, develop vital skills, and send money home. In their host countries,
refugees might not only find safety, but also possibilities to rebuild their
lives and livelihoods. Turkey has made it easier for refugees to enter the
formal labor market, with more than 7,000 enterprises employing them. Despite
some progress, many people continue to be unable to reach the regular work
market (Mitchell, 2019). Other new policies
include funding education through Conditional Cash Assistance for Education and
work permit programs for Syrians, despite the fact that these policies are
unpopular and plagued by
barriers and disincentives, as well as prohibiting refugees from working in the provinces where they are
registered, which are frequently not located in the province where the larger labour
market resides.
The Turkish government exhibited
interest in awarding citizenship to potential and skilled refugees in 2017, but
public opposition prompted strong suspicions that this was done for political
reasons (Shamahi, 2017). In
keeping with this, Turkey's refugee policy has been updated to match EU
requirements. Furthermore, Turkey might be argued to be forced to accept
refugees and asylum seekers because the EU supplies them with funding and
assistance in order to ensure that the migrants are cared for and that they do
not travel to the EU. On the Turkish side, it serves as a negotiating chip with
EU countries who are vocal in their criticism of Turkish foreign policy (Noermanita, 2017). On the other hand, to reduce the
number of irregular migrants, the EU implements policies such as creating
buffer zones, strengthening border controls, and taking full control of mixed
migration by signing re-admission agreements and establishing concepts such as
"safe third countries" or "safe countries of origin."
The EU and Turkey have agreed on a
program that calls for Turkey to beef up border security while allowing Greece
to return all new irregular migrants to Turkey. In exchange, the EU promised
Turkey a three-billion-euro grant in two instalments to help refugees and
strengthen border security. In addition, the agreement contemplates resettling
one registered asylum applicant from Turkey for every irregular migrant
returning from Greece, in order to promote a regulated road to refuge. Finally,
through the visa liberalization program, Turkey's EU admission effort will be
re-energized, and a new chapter in the membership negotiation process will be
begun. However, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 forced Turkey to reconsider the
agreement in order to avoid the pandemic's worst impacts (Long, 2018).
On March 11, 2020, Turkey announced
its first case of COVID-19. Turkey had taken containment efforts in early
January and February, including sealing its borders with Iran (one of the
nation�s severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic) and Syria. Flights from some of
the worst-affected countries, such as China and Italy, have been impacted by
COVID-19. The original limitations were gradually strengthened, and the Turkish
government has now enforced a travel ban on all foreign flights as well as
harsh local travel restrictions across regions (Jazeera, 2020).
COVID-19 has had a terrible influence
on people's well-being around the world, both in terms of health and economics.
Those at the bottom of the social scale have been impacted the hardest, and
migrants and refugees have been particularly hard hit, as has Turkey. Although
the Turkish government does not keep separate information on the number of
refugees infected with COVID-19, the majority of Syrian refugees reside in
highly populated urban areas with high infection rates (Yav�an, 2020). It is commonly
acknowledged that the pandemic has had a double impact on their lives: adequate
hygiene is impossible in crowded houses, and the epidemic has made meeting
basic necessities and accessing livelihood opportunities more challenging.
Given the impact of the pandemic on the Turkish economy, this situation is
expected to worsen. Turkey has reported over 170,000 cases, thereby avoiding
the high death toll experienced by Italy and Spain (Aks�t, 2020).
Despite initial efforts to stem the
virus' spread, Turkey's refugee and migrant population of more than 5 million
people, of which 3.6 million are Syrian refugees, remains one of the country's greatest concerns.
Many refugees, due to social isolation and marginalization, as well as language
issues, may be unable to obtain accurate information on COVID-19, as well as
adequate preventative measures and COVID-19-related services, putting them at
greater risk of transmission (Council, 2020). However, as in many other countries, Turkey will bounce back
and face challenges.
B. Turkey's
Protection of Refugees during the COVID-19 Pandemic
COVID-19 has spread to practically
every country since it first appeared in early 2020. The globe is facing one of
the most devastating pandemics in human history, COVID-19. Travel bans, school
closures, social event cancellations, quarantining certain zones, and even
economic lockdowns have all been enacted in a number of countries (Erdoğan, 2020). COVID-19 can spread in
microscopic fluid particles from an infected person's lips or nose when they
cough, sneeze, talk, sing, or breathe, according to the WHO. Larger respiratory
droplets to smaller aerosols are among the particles. Infected persons can be
contagious whether or not they have symptoms, and the virus can transmit from
them to others (World
Health Organization, 2020). Refugees are among the most vulnerable
to COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization, since they live and
work in often poor conditions with limited access to health, housing, water,
sanitation, and other essential services (World Health Organization, 2021).
Therefore, Turkey wants to provide protection for refugees who are one of the
most vulnerable to COVID-19.
Turkey now has the world's highest
refugee population. According to new policy records compiled by the World Bank,
the Turkish government puts the overall number of refugees registered under
Temporary Protection at 2,225,147, one of whom is from Syria. According to the
policy note, Turkey's reaction measures have two basic characteristics: 1) a
non-camp strategy; and 2) a government-funded method � which dramatically
differed from many refugee-hosting countries' responses, which tended to divert
refugees to camps financed by humanitarian organizations. In
development-oriented response activities, this note covers the most prevalent
challenges faced by refugees and host communities, including income, welfare,
and employment; strain on housing and services, especially health education;
and social tensions and public relations (Bank, 2015).
Turkey is adapting its programs and
cooperating with its partners, including UNHCR, to improve help for refugees, in line with the
precautionary steps adopted by the Turkish government to contain the spread of
the Corona virus. Additional UNHCR assistance is focused on emergency financial
transfers, hygiene and other essential items distribution, community
communication, and refugee efforts.
UNHCR is also
collaborating with its education and livelihood partners to help mitigate the socioeconomic
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on distant learners and, more broadly, refugees
who have lost their jobs. UNHCR, which focuses on COVID-19 emergency financial transfers in close collaboration
with the Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM), initiates
emergency cash transfers to meet the most pressing needs of refugees who are at
risk from COVID-19. With a one-time financial transfer of TYR
1,000 per household via the Turkish Postal Service, the help targets vulnerable
refugees and asylum seekers who do not benefit from other aid programs (PTT).
The implementation will begin in April 2020 (UNHCR, 2021b).
Cleaning materials
and other in-kind support are provided to refugee members and host communities
by UNHCR in collaboration with authorities. Goods are delivered to local
governments, governors, municipalities, and other partners, who then distribute
them to residents in need. Authorities across the country are also given Personal
Protective Equipment (PPE) to safeguard their safety while
performing their tasks. UNHCR has distributed approximately 65,900 hygiene
kits to refugees and host communities in 35 provinces through 61 partners,
including local governments, municipalities, and non-governmental
organizations. Turkish border authorities on the western frontiers of Edirne,
�anakkale, Izmir, and Mula received 5,000 PPE, 38,000 latex gloves, 6,550
masks, as well as goggles, thermometers, and sanitizers. For Turkish border
authorities in Izmir and Mula, more than 3,600 parcels of food, drink,
blankets, and hygiene items were delivered. Through 13 partners, 75 wheelchairs
were distributed to refugees in 12 regions. More than 125,500 essential relief goods and personal
protective equipment (PPE) were sent to six temporary lodging locations in
Southeast Turkey for refugees (El-Khalek, 2020).
UNHCR collaborates
closely with local governments, municipalities, and other partners around the country to identify
needs, provide material aid, and encourage refugee initiatives to mobilize
themselves and their communities. Cleaning supplies and equipment are still
being sent to disadvantaged groups across the country. The Metropolitan
Municipality of Anlurfa in southeastern Turkey is producing face masks as part
of a UNHCR-funded project. Around 350,000 face masks were created in the
initial stage of production, which took place in December 2020, by Turkish
women and migrants. One million masks are to be produced and distributed to
refugees and members of the host community
(UNHCR, 2020a).
In dealing with
COVID-19, there are also activities by refugees. Twelve refugee ventures in
Anatolia are producing soap bars, masks, and protectors for their communities.
The program has brought together a group of refugees and Turkish residents in
ten provinces to make commodities ranging from 700 to 55,000 mask and 2,400 to
3,000 bars of soap, which are subsequently given by 12 partners. More than 7,500 masks were made in Hatay using sewing
machines purchased by UNHCR for a community development project. UNHCR updated
a textile facility in Istanbul, which produced 45,000 reusable face masks.
Turkish refugees, migrants, and women work together in Hatay and Istanbul to
create masks that will be supplied to refugees and Turkish households (UNHCR, 2020b).
Conclusion
In
conclusion, COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the well-being of people
in every corner of the world, both as a health and economic problem. Those at
the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder have suffered the most, and within that
group, refugees have been hit as badly as refugees in Turkey. These refugees
mostly live-in camps, where they lack adequate attention and facilities to
support health and prevent catching COVID-19. According to UNHCR, refugees are
the most vulnerable to COVID-19.
Therefore,
Turkey, which is one of the countries that hosts the largest refugees, wants to protect refugees
during this COVID-19 pandemic. To provide protection, the Turkish government
establishes policies to protect refugees, one of which is the Migration policy.
In addition, Turkey has cooperated with UNHCR to provide emergency cash
assistance to refugees, provide provision and distribution of hygiene and other
needed items, and support refugee initiative.
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Copyright holder:
Lalu Jeffrey Alim Wahtum, Sugito (2022)
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First publication right:
Syntax Literate:
Jurnal Ilmiah Indonesia
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