As Refugee Rights Turkey, we organized refugee law training for lawyers affiliated with Şırnak Bar Association Migration and Refugee Rights Commission on 25th and 26th March 2023 called “Rights and Legal Safeguards Provided to Persons Seeking Protection in Turkey within the Framework of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection (YUKK) No. 6458” During the training with the participation from the Şırnak Bar Association, “Basic Concepts in Refugee Law” “International Protection Procedure and Objection to Negative Status Decisions” and “Deportation Procedure Under YUKK, Administrative Surveillance, Administrative Services” were discussed with the faciliatiton of Refugee Rights Turkey experts. Alternative Measures to Oversight and Objection Ways” were discussed. Following the presentations, case studies were prepared following the frequently encountered problems in Van,

 On April 15th, 2023, Refugee Rights Turkey organized an in-person workshop in Istanbul on “Administrative and Judicial Practices Encountered in International Protection Procedures” with the participation of more than fifty lawyers from different bar associations and civil society organizations in Turkey.  In the first session of the workshop titled “Observations and Evaluations on Refugee Status Determination Interviews from Different Provinces”, discussions were held on the impact of the February 6th earthquakes on international protection procedures, the use of the right of lawyers to participate in individual interviews as observers, the quality of translation services provided during interviews, and whether the situation of those with special needs was taken into consideration. In the second session titled “Observations and Experience Sharing from

While we are deeply saddened by the earthquake that took place in Kahramanmaraş and affected many of our provinces, we convey our best wishes to everyone. We offer our condolences to those who lost their loved ones and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.

In collaboration with US partner organization Refugee Solidarity Network (RSN), Refugee Rights Turkey (RRT) is going to organize an “Afghanistan Country of Origin Information Seminar Series” which will focus on the updated security and human rights situation in Afghanistan. Foreign experts known for their work in the field will make presentations in the seminars that will respectively take place on January 12th, January 26th, and February 9th between 07.00 pm and 08.30 pm (GMT+3). The first session of the series will be held on Thursday, January 12th, between 07.00 PM – 08.30 PM with the title “Historical Background and General Security Situation in Afghanistan”. The second session titled “The Situation Facing Women and Girls in Afghanistan” will take place on

As Refugee Rights Turkey, we organized refugee law training for lawyers affiliated with Van Bar Association on 14th January 2023 called “Rights and Legal Safeguards Provided to Persons Seeking Protection in Turkey within the Framework of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection (YUKK) No. 6458” During the one-day training with the participation of more than 180 lawyers from the Van Bar Association, “Basic Concepts in Refugee Law” “International Protection Procedure and Objection to Negative Status Decisions” and “Deportation Procedure Under YUKK, Administrative Surveillance, Administrative Services” were discussed with the faciliatiton of Refugee Rights Turkey experts. Alternative Measures to Oversight and Objection Ways” were discussed. Following the presentations, case studies were prepared following the frequently encountered problems in Van, and

As Refugee Rights Turkey, we are organizing an online seminar in collobaration with Refugee Solidarity Network on Thursday, March 25th between 5 pm and 7 pm focusing on Presentation and Evaluation of International Protection Applications based on the Violence Against Women. Please register here first in order to participate. The presentation will be carried out by Blaine Bookey. Blaine Bookey is Legal Director at the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, based at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, whose mission is to advance the human rights of asylum seekers. She oversees the Center’s strategic litigation, policy and advocacy, and technical assistance and training programs. Blaine also teaches courses on human rights as an Adjunct Professor of

As Refugee Rights Turkey, we are organizing online seminars on 29 January and 5-12-19 February between 14:30-16:00 focusing on national legal framework as outlined by Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection and its implementation in relation to the below-mentioned subjects. With these seminars, we hope to virtually bring together such legal professionals and civil society actors and share our experiences on both the legal framework and the actual implementation on the ground. Please note that our seminar is open to the participation of all interested individuals and that it will be in Turkish only. Seminar dates: 29 January 2021 Friday from 14:30 to 16:00 5 February 2021 Friday from 14:30 to 16:00 12 February 2021 Friday from 14:30

RRT, in collaboration with American partner organization RSN launches a new dedicated website for Turkish lawyers. The website makes available to Turkish lawyers and NGO legal practitioners a comprehensive compilation of international standards, domestic legislation, sample administrative documents and decisions, and other reference materials. The website aims to support and guide practicing lawyers to acquire and enhance specialized expertise in Turkish asylum and immigration law and procedures. The « Avukatlar İçin Mülteci Hukuku Bilgi Platformu »  (Refugee Law Information Platform for Lawyers) website is a joint RRT-RSN output, and builds on the two partner organization’s close collaboration since 2015 to promote rights-based approaches protection of refugees and other vulnerable migrants in Turkey, including efforts to strengthen the country-wide availability and quality of

Refugee Rights Turkey (RRT) launches a new 12-month project in partnership with Danish Refugee Council (DRC) Turkey Office and with funding support from ECHO. The project will channel funds to complement and strengthen RRT’s already existing legal information and assistance services for persons in immigration detention and RRT’s efforts to support Turkish lawyers acquire specialized expertise in return and immigration detention procedures. RRT had previously implemented three consecutive, similarly ECHO-funded cooperation projects with DRC Turkey, which ran from 15 June through 31 December 2016, from 1 January 2017 through 31 December 2018, and from 1 April 2019 through 30 September 2020 respectively. These successfully completed projects had enabled RRT to further strengthen legal counselling and assistance services offered to persons

As Refugee Rights Turkey, we are organizing an online seminar on Monday, September 21st between 2 pm and 4 pm focusing on national legal framework as outlined by Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection and its implementation vis-a-vis administrative detention and non-detention measures in Turkey. Please register here first in order to participate. Administrative detention refers to the deprivation of liberty of someone while the relevant migratory procedures are ongoing. Article 57 (administrative detention for the purpose of deportation) and Article 68 (administrative detention of international protection applicants) of Law No.  6458 sets the ground for who may be detained. The most recent amendments to the Law that came in effect in December 2019 made it possible for

As Refugee Rights Turkey, we are organizing a seminar titled “State Obligations to Consider and Implement Alternative Measures to Detention (ATDs) in Migration Context in light of ECtHR Caselaw” on September 18th, Friday between 2 pm and 4 pm with the presence and contributions by expert jurists Pamela McCormick from the European Court of Human Rights; and Lilya Gretarsdottir and Konul Gasimova from the Council of Europe. In this seminar, we will be discussing the framework set by the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights on the implementation of ATDs that have been relatively recently put in effect in Turkey; as it is also expected to inspire the standards for relevant practices and national

On Friday August 14th, between 2 pm and 4 pm, we will be co-organizing with European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) an online seminar titled “Non-Refoulement Principle under International Human Rights Law and ECtHR Caselaw”. In this seminar, expert lawyer Julia Zelvenska from ECRE will be presenting to us the legal framework and norms surrounding non-refoulement principle, a very fundamental guarantee for refugees and asylum seekers, as outlined by international human rights law, and specifically the European Convention on Human Rights, and we will be discussing some of the precedent-setting decisions and more recent decisions from the European Court of Human Rights, with respect to the application of non-refoulement principle. Our seminar will be bilingual with Turkish and English