Refugee Rights Turkey launches a comprehensive “Refugee Law Manual for Lawyers” in Turkish. The resource compiles the main international norms and domestic legislation items informing the Turkish asylum system as well as sample documents and decisions. Turkey’s new Law on Foreigners and International Protection, which came into force in April 2014 introduced a brand new set of criteria, rules and procedures governing the realm of migration and asylum. The Law is largely based on EU standards and international norms and provides important new safeguards for protection seekers in Turkey. Within the framework of the new Law, Turkey currently maintains a new “international protection procedure” for individually arriving asylum seekers as well as a group-based “temporary protection scheme” for refugees from

On 6 February 2016, Refugee Rights Turkey held a 1-day specialization seminar for lawyers in Izmir. The training focused on legislation and practices pertaining to the legal protection of particularly vulnerable asylum seekers. An expert from Dutch Council for Refugees has contributed to the seminar. The seminar was attended by a large group of Izmir-based lawyers, many of which are affiliated with the Izmir bar association’s committees on Migrant and Refuge Rights, Children’s Rights and Women’s Rights respectively.  The seminar program covered relevant legal definitions and procedures provided by both the Law on Foreigners and International Protection and the Temporary Protection Regulation.  Dutch legal expert Angelina van Kampen contributed to the seminar with a presentation on relevant EU standards and

As of March 2015, Refugee Rights Turkey initiates a comprehensive legal assistance and capacity-building project in collaboration with American partner organization Refugee Solidarity Network (RSN). The project is being funded by U.S. State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migrations (PRM) with additional co-funding and programming support from the Dutch Council for Refugees. Within the framework of the 24-month project, Refugee Rights Turkey shall provide extensive legal information, counselling and assistance services and carry out protection interventions for both Syrian and non-Syrian protection seekers around Turkey; generate written information materials and reference resources for asylum seekers, lawyers and other service providers; organize specialization trainings and seminars for lawyers in collaboration with selected bar associations; contribute to the enhancement of coordination

The well-recognized refugee legal aid, asylum advocacy and capacity-building activities known as “Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Turkey – Refugee Advocacy and Support Program (HCA-RASP)”  since 2005 were transitioned to a brand new organizational framework and rebranded “Refugee Rights Turkey” in English and “Mülteci Hakları Merkezi” in Turkish. Registered as a new association under Turkish law in September 2014, Refugee Rights Turkey constitutes the new organizational framework for the continuation of HCA-RASP mandate and activities. As of 2 March 2015, core HCA-RASP activities and operations in the field of legal assistance and capacity-building programs targeting lawyers have been formally taken over by Refugee Rights Turkey. The gradual transition of a number of ongoing and remaining HCA-RASP activities into the new Refugee Rights