Press release on the launch of the project Reinforcement of Turkey’s National Asylum System

14 September 2017, Ankara - The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), together with the Government of Turkey and with the support of the European Union (EU), has launched today the project “Reinforcement of Turkey’s National Asylum System”. The EUR 2.7 million project will support Turkey in its efforts to establish an efficient and institutionalized national asylum system over a three year period. The Central Finance and Contracts Unit (CFCU) is the contracting authority of the project and the Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM) is the direct beneficiary.

Turkey now hosts the largest number of refugees in the world, including more than 3 million Syrian refugees and some 320,000 asylum-seekers and refugees from other nationalities. While dealing with a mass influx of refugees during the past years, the Government of Turkey has established a robust rights-based asylum framework through the Law on Foreigners and International Protection (LFIP), which regulates access to rights, entitlements and obligations of all persons in need of international protection.
Paolo Artini, UNHCR Representative, a.i. in Turkey, said “The project we launch today represents a very good opportunity to support Turkey in providing quality protection and assistance to refugees and asylum-seekers”.

Throughout the three year project, UNHCR will organize trainings, study tours and field visits to enhance the capacity of the staff of DGMM at central and provincial level. This will include the development of standard operating procedures and information materials as well as an e-learning platform. In close collaboration with DGMM, the project will target not only the staff of DGMM, but also the staff of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Family and Social Policies as well as NGOs and lawyers of Bar Associations. Refugees and asylum-seekers in Turkey will be the final beneficiaries of the project.

Hosting the largest number of refugees in the world, Turkey has been shouldering a great responsibility in protecting and assisting in a generous manner refugee and asylum-seeking children, women and men from crisis areas.