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

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 policy advocacy efforts to promote more widespread and effective use of Alternatives to Detention (ATDs) in Turkey context. RRT had previously implemented two consecutive similarly ECHO-funded cooperation projects with DRC Turkey, which ran from 15 June through 31 December 2016 and from 1 January 2017 through 31 December 2018 respectively. These successfully completed projects had enabled RRT to further strengthen legal counselling and assistance services offered to persons subject to administrative detention

On 15-16 March, RRT held a two-day refugee law training in the town of Mersin in Southern Turkey, in collaboration with Support to Life and Mersin bar association. The training covered the basic criteria and procedural tenets of both the international protection procedure for non-Syrian asylum seekers and the temporary protection regime in place for refugees from Syria as well as rules and criteria governing detention and expulsion decisions. In addition to theoretical presentations, the training also featured clinical discussions on effective use of appeal mechanisms. The training was organized in the framework of a project implemented by RRT with the financial backing of US State Department Bureau for Population Refugees and Migration (PRM). RRT delivers refugee law trainings for

Heinrich Böll Foundation Turkey’s funding support to RRT activities, first initiated in 2006, is set to continue. The support framework serves to strengthen RRT’s legal assistance services benefitting particularly vulnerable asylum seekers as well as advocacy efforts at national and European level. In the scope of the new 3-year cooperation framework agreed between the two organizations, Heinrich Böll Foundation Turkey will continue supporting RRT’s legal assistance programs and networking and advocacy interactions at European level. The program will also offer support towards the development of analyses and recommendations pertaining to key aspects of Turkey’s migration and asylum legislation and practice.

On February 10th Sunday RRT carried out a one-day specialization seminar for lawyers in the city of Van in Eastern Turkey, in collaboration with the provincial bar association. The training focused on legal concepts and procedural issues in refugee status determination. The city of Van hosts sizeable Afghan and Iranian asylum seeker populations subject to the international protection procedure administered by the Directorate General for Migration Management (DGMM).The training aimed to equip lawyers on Van bar association’s legal aid roster with an advanced understanding of legal concepts and procedural tools used in refugee status determination, specifically definitions of persecution and serious harm, well-foundedness and credibility assessment and sources and standards pertaining to the use of country of origin information. In

RRT publishes new report on progress made and continuing challenges in the extension of stata-funded legal aid services to asylum seekers and detained migrants in Turkey. The report, made available in Turkish and English, is based on RRT’s own field observations as well as consultations with bar association leaders around the country. It was finalized in January and published today. In Turkey the state-funded legal aid scheme (Adli Yardım) is administered by provincial bar associations, which assign and pay local legal aid roster lawyers to take on cases. While Turkey’s migration and asylum legislation does acknowledge the possibility for foreign nationals to apply for legal aid services and a lot of progress made in recent years towards mobilizing the legal

RRT, in partnership with ICJ, ECRE and Mülteci-Der, launched a new reference resource for Turkish lawyers and NGO legal practitioners: “Migration and Asylum Law Training Modules”. The modules, made available in Turkish, provide relevant international, European and national standards and caselaw organized around 4 themes. The 4 themes covered by the modules are: The modules were jointly developed by RRT, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ),  ECRE ve Mültecilerle Dayanışma Derneği (Mülteci-Der) in the framework of a project partnership supported by the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights Democracy (EIDHR) Turkey Program. The project aims to support legal expertise development among lawyers and legal practitioners in Turkey on asylum and immigration law, with a particular emphasis on applicable international and

On 2-3 February, RRT held a two-day refugee law training in Ankara in collaboration with the Refugee Rights Committee of the provincial bar association. The purpose of the training was to provide an introductory specialization package to lawyers who have recently joined the Ankara bar’s legal aid roster. The training covered the basic criteria and procedural tenets of both the international protection procedure for non-Syrian asylum seekers and the temporary protection regime in place for refugees from Syria as well as rules and criteria governing detention and expulsion decisions. In addition to theoretical presentations, the training also featured clinical discussions on effective use of appeal mechanisms. In addition to RRT experts, the training also featured presenters from UNHCR, Directorate General

RRT and American partner organization Refugee Solidarity Network (RSN) launch 4 new animation videos for refugees and asylum seekers in Turkey. The new videos, made available in Turkish, English, Arabic and Farsi, cover housing and property rights, marriage and divorce, state-funded legal aid services administered by bar associations and RRT’s own specialized legal assistance services. Through these videos RRT and RSN aim to offer accessible and reliable legal information to refugee and asylum seeker communities in Turkey. The legal information content for the videos was developed by RRT, while the animation design and development process was overseen by RSN in the United States. The videos were developed and made available in the framework of a project implemented by RRT in