In the context of Turkey-wide “social distancing” measures to contain health risks emanating from the COVID-19 pandemic, as from 17 March 2020, RRT operations were transitioned into a “remote working” arrangement on a temporary basis until a further assessment. RRT staff teams operating out of our Istanbul main office and field offices in Izmir and Edirne will continue daily activities as before from outside office premises. All external group-based activities, including legal empowerment sessions and lawyer trainings, are suspended until further notice. That being said, RRT’s Helpdesk services for asylum seekers and migrants as well as legal counselling interviews and litigation support interventions remain operational and continue as before over telephone and other distant communication tools. Please consult our separate

On 7-8 December 2019, Refugee Rights Turkey held a 2-day specialization seminar for lawyers in Southern Turkish city of Hatay by the Syria border in partnership with the local bar association. The seminar covered both theoretical and practical aspects of asylum and return procedures in Turkey as well as discussions on applicable remedies and case law. The seminar saw RRT experts deliver sessions on Turkey’s dual asylum procedures for refugees from Syria and asylum seekers from other countries of origin respectively as well as return procedures. The presentations also touched upon on applicable remedies and accumulated case law before both domestic courts and the European Court of Human Rights as relevant. The training also included a dedicated session on the

As of December 1st, Refugee Rights Turkey (RRT) has initiated the implementation of a comprehensive new legal aid and asylum capacity-building project, in affiliation with American partner organization Refugee Solidarity Network (RSN) and with funding support from the US State Department Population, Refugees and Migration Bureau (PRM).  The new project builds on two preceding RRT-RSN cooperation projects successfully completed from 2015 through 2019. In the framework of the new project, over the next 21 months, RRT will continue to deliver a range of legal counselling and assistance services to both Syrian and non-Syrian asylum seekers, and seminars on asylum law addressed to lawyers and NGO practitioners across Turkey. The project will also enable RRT to generate a new up to

As part of Turkey-wide COVID-19 mitigation measures, as from 17 March 2020 RRT legal assistance services are being continued from outside office premises. Our General Legal Assistance Helpdesk and Detention Helpdesk remain operational. Our legal counseling interviews and other legal assistance interventions are also continued. This temporary arrangement will remain in place until further assessment regarding Covid-19 mitigation measures. 1-Asylum seekers and migrants interested to reach out to our legal assistance services can continue to contact us, as before, every day from Monday through Friday, from 10 am to 5 pm, by following the contact instructions below. RRT General Legal Assistance Helpdesk : For Arabic, English and French calls : 0549 510 52 02 For Farsi and Turkish calls :

On 5-12 October 2019, RRT held a visit to Mexico in the framework of an experience-sharing exchange organized by our American partner organization RSN in collaboration with RRT and Mexican refugee rights NGO Sin Fronteras. During the visit, in addition to a comparative workshop on Turkey and Mexico migration dynamics and various bilateral meetings with Mexican civil society actors, RRT also delivered a presentation at the Mexican Senate, and conducted field observations in the northern border town of Tijuana. It is often noted that migration dynamics across the Mexico-US border and those along the Turkey-EU border bear significant similarities. While EU and Turkey have been engaged in a comprehensive cooperation dialogue on matters related to migration and asylum since the

On 16-17 November 2019, Refugee Rights Turkey held a 2-day specialization seminar for lawyers in Northwestern Turkish city of Bursa in partnership with the local bar association. The seminar covered both theoretical and practical aspects of asylum and return procedures in Turkey as well as discussions on applicable remedies and case law. The seminar saw RRT experts deliver sessions on Turkey’s dual asylum procedures for refugees from Syria and asylum seekers from other countries of origin respectively as well as return procedures. The presentations also touched upon on applicable remedies and accumulated case law before both domestic courts and the European Court of Human Rights as relevant. The training also included a dedicated session on the use of Turkish Constitutional

RRT and American partner organization Refugee Solidarity Network (RSN) have launched a new report on “Potentials of Pro Bono Partnerships in Turkey for Securing Refugees’ Access to Rights”. The report builds on the two organizations’ joint efforts since 2017 to draw from the US ‘pro bono’ experience with a view to exploring ways in which law firms in Turkey and NGO assistance providers can team up to generate an additional capacity for free legal services to asylum seekers to complement state-funded Legal Aid and NGO legal services. You can download the report at the Publications section of our website. RRT, as a leading national refugee law & asylum legal aid stakeholder in Turkey, has been working for many years to

On 20-21 July, Refugee Rights Turkey (RRT) held a two-day specialization seminar in Istanbul for lawyers focusing on deportation and immigration detention procedures in Turkey and applicable judicial remedies and case law of competent domestic courts as well as the ECtHR. The seminar was attended by over 50 lawyers representing 21 different bar associations and 3 NGOs from 22 different cities across Turkey. RRT had last hosted a national training of a similar scope in April this year. In addition to RRT in-house legal experts, a distinguished lawyer from the ECtHR has also contributed to the event as trainer. Day 1 of the seminar started with a discussion of the Turkish domestic law and implementation framework governing deportation proceedings and

On July 12th, Refugee Rights Turkey and American partner organization Refugee Solidarity Network (RSN) jointly hosted a workshop in Istanbul on the potentials and challenges of mobilizing pro bono partnerships between NGOs and law firms to help strengthen the legal protection of refugees and other vulnerable migrants in Turkey. Turkey currently hosts over 4 million asylum seekers and refugees, mainly from Syria but also from Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, among other countries of origin. Furthermore, over 200 000 irregular migrants are apprended by Turkish authorities annually, mainly while in transit in Western and Eastern border regions, the majority of which originate from the very same countries torn by war and persecution and are therefore considered persons in need to access

On 27-28 April, RRT held a two-day specialization seminar for lawyers focusing on the case law and procedures of European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in cases involving complaints in connection with deportation and detention of foreign nationals. The seminar was attended by about 50 lawyers representing 19 different bar associations and 4 NGOs from across Turkey. In addition to RRT staff, two distinguished legal experts from ECRE and the ECtHR have contributed to the event as trainers. Day 1 of the seminar started with a discussion of the Turkish domestic law and implementation framework governing deportation proceedings and immigration detention within the scope of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection and followed on with a discussion of ECtHR

We have launched new legal information booklets for refugees and service providers, covering rights and procedures about « Access to State-funded Legal Aid Services », « Marriage and Divorce » and « Rent and Property » for asylum seekers in Turkey. Our new information booklets are made available in Arabic, Farsi, Turkish and English. Our information booklets aim to provide accurate and up to date guidance based on legislation and practice to both asylum seekers and service providers in Turkey on a comprehensive range of topics. You can browse through our information booklets, including the above mentioned new series launched this month, at the PUBLICATONS section of our website. NGO service providers across Turkey are welcome to get in touch with us at [email protected] to receive

RRT and our American partner organization Refugee Solidarity Network (RSN) launch a new web-based legal information portal for refugees and asylum seekers in Turkey. The website, initially made accessible in Arabic, Farsi, Turkish and English, offers comprehensive legal information and video materials for both Syrian and non-Syrian asylum seekers organized around 7 topics. The web-based information portal can be reached at: https://multecihaklari.info and/or https://refugeerights.info.  The website provides a comprehensive range of legal information both for refugees from Syria subject to Turkey’s “temporary protection” regime and asylum seekers from other countries of origin subject to Turkey’s “international protection” procedure. It was jointly developed by RRT and RSN for the purpose of offering accurate and up-to-date legal information for those seeking to understand