Abstract
This chapter examines the emergence of ‘the refugee problem’ in Turkey and how this problematic has been constituted through a focus on the trajectory of the UNHCR’s recent relationship with the Turkish government. We point to a concern by UNHCR to cultivate and lead a productive relationship with stakeholders in refugee governance through a charm offensive and techniques of partnership. This case exposes the muddy terrain in which the UNHCR steers Turkey’s refugee policies towards European interests.
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Notes
- 1.
UNHCR Syria Regional Response—Turkey http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=224 (accessed 4 April 2017).
- 2.
The only other signatory countries that maintain a geographical limitation are Congo, Monaco and Madagascar. Turkey defines Europe as all members of the Council of Europe including Russia and ex-Soviet states west of the Urals including the Caucasus.
- 3.
The 1994 Regulation on Procedures and Principles related to Mass Influx and Foreigners Arriving in Turkey either as Individuals or in Groups wishing to Seek Asylum either from Turkey or Requesting Residence Permits with the Intention of Seeking Asylum from a Third Country, No: 94/6169, the Official Gazette, No. 22127, 30 November, 1994.
- 4.
Interview, UNHCR Public Relations Officer, January 2013, Ankara (Turkey).
- 5.
See Kemal Kirisci (2012) for a discussion of the shifting relations between the UNHCR and the Turkish government and how the UNHCR has succeeded in returning to the centre stage.
- 6.
UNHCR, UNHCR protests Turkish refoulement of recognised Iraqi refugee, Briefing Notes, 13 March 2007 retrieved 14 April 2015 http://www.unhcr.org/45f681d911.html
- 7.
UNHCR, Turkey: Expulsion of Iranians concerned: UNHCR raises concerns with government, Briefing Note, 21 September 2007, retrieved 14 April from http://www.unhcr.org/46f3b3452.html
- 8.
UNHCR Press release—UNHCR deplores refugee expulsion by Turkey which resulted in four deaths, 25 April 2008 retrieved 14 April 2016 from http://www.unhcr.org/4811e23c4.html
- 9.
Interview—Ex-UNHCR Turkey Consultant, Paris, July 2015.
- 10.
Council of Europe, Commissioner for Human Rights, Seminar on the human rights dimensions of migration in Europe (Istanbul, 17–18 February 2011) https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1775377#P211_44651
- 11.
UNHCR, Syria Regional Refugee Response—Turkey, 4 April 2017.
- 12.
UNHCR Global Report 2009–2014.
- 13.
UNHCR, UNHCR welcomes Turkey’s new law on asylum, Briefing Notes 12 April 2013, retrieved 14 April 2015 from http://www.unhcr.org/5167e7d09.html; UNHCR, UNHCR welcomes Turkey’s registration of Syrians in urban areas, 11 March 2013 http://www.unhcr.org/513de5756.html; UNHCR, Turkey proves a saviour for Syrian pensioner recovering from a stroke, 12 February 2015 retrieved 15 April 2015 from http://www.unhcr.org/54dcc3756.html
- 14.
UNHCR, Syrian refugees: the kindness of a stranger in a Southern Turkey border town, News Stories, 7 November 2013 http://www.unhcr.org/527b91669.html
- 15.
AA Breaking, UN praises Turkish model amid refugee crisis, 11 June 2015, http://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/un-praises-turkish-model-amid-refugee-crisis/37591 (accessed 5 October 2015).
- 16.
Alakhbar, Turkey offers residency to Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria, 19 February 2014 http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/18704 (accessed 26 January 2014).
- 17.
Interview—UNHCR Turkey Public Relations Officer, January 2013, Ankara (Turkey).
- 18.
Interview—UNHCR Turkey Public Relations Officer, November 2013, Ankara (Turkey).
- 19.
Interview—UNHCR Turkey Public Relations Officer, January 2013, Ankara (Turkey).
- 20.
Interview—UNHCR Programme Officer, December 2013, Ankara (Turkey).
- 21.
Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly—Turkey. 2012. Syrian Refugees in Turkey—Briefing Note, 16 November 2012 http://www.hyd.org.tr/staticfiles/files/20121116_hca_turkey_briefingnotesyrianrefugees.pdf (accessed 23 January 2015).
- 22.
IOM—Speech by Berlan Alan, Head, Migration Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Turkey https://www.iom.int/jahia/webdav/shared/shared/mainsite/microsites/IDM/workshops/moving-to-safety-complex-crises-2012/speeches-presentations/Session-3-Berlan-Alan-Workshop-in-Geneva-Turkey.pdf
- 23.
Little information on the situation in the camps is available; most accounts come from press statements from the Prime Minister’s Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD).
- 24.
Interview—Resident Programme Officer, National Democratic Institute—Gazientep (by Skype), June 2015.
- 25.
Human Rights Joint Platform, Some Human Rights Organisations not Invited to Refugee Seminar, 22 December 2008 http://www.ihop.org.tr/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=98&catid=25&Itemid=19 (accessed 27 January 2015).
- 26.
Members include Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly; Human Rights Association; Human Rights Agenda Association; Association of Solidarity with Refugees; Amnesty International, Turkey.
- 27.
Interview—UNHCR Project Officer, June 2014, Istanbul (Turkey).
- 28.
This is largely explained by pressure from the international community as well as the leadership of Atilla Toros, the former head of the Migration and Asylum Bureau and now Director of the Directorate General for Migration Management.
- 29.
We may note that while there is little room for deliberation during the meetings, the NGOs organise their own meetings in which they invite the UNHCR to participate. However, the UNHCR would consistently send junior staff who do not participate but only take notes in order to report back. There is no sense of a dynamic in norm transition but of a linear process in which the UNHCR positions itself as the norm diffuser and NGOs as the norm takers. This unequal balance hinders the ‘legitimacy’ NGOs accord to the UNHCR.
- 30.
Participant observation during a UNHCR–NGO consultation meeting, May 2013, Istanbul.
- 31.
UNHCR, Background Note on the Safe Country Concept and Refugee Status, 26 July 1991, EC/SCP/68, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae68ccec.html (accessed 18 December 2014).
- 32.
UNHCR, Background note on the safe country concept and refugee status, EC/SCP/68, 26 July 1991, http://www.unhcr.org/3ae68ccec.html (accessed 30 December 2016).
- 33.
Human Rights Watch, ‘Closed Door Policy: Afghan Refugees in Pakistan and Iran’, 27 February 2002, G1402, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3c7ce78a4.html
- 34.
Interview—Programme Officer UNHCR, May 2013, Istanbul (Turkey).
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Fine, S. (2018). The UNHCR Steer. In: Borders and Mobility in Turkey. Mobility & Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70120-2_4
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