Paper details
| Paper authors | Sema Genel Karaosmanoğlu |
| In panel on | Refugee Leadership in Responses and Policies in Türkiye: a Syrian RLOs and Turkish CSOs Roundtable (Roundtable) |
| Paper presenter(s) will be presenting |
In-Person / |
Abstract
Türkiye’s humanitarian landscape has been shaped by more than a decade of hosting one of the largest refugee populations in the world. Since the onset of the Syrian conflict, the country has faced overlapping challenges—from protracted displacement and evolving asylum policies to the compounding effects of regional instability and intensifying climate-related disasters.
Having worked in refugee response in Türkiye since 2012, Hayata Destek (Support to Life) has focused on facilitating refugees access to basic rights and services, strengthening livelihoods, and designing protection mechanisms that respond to their realities. In 2024 alone, we reached nearly 300,000 people across 13 provinces, continuing refugee-focused programming that includes vocational training, legal guidance, and social cohesion initiatives. As part of our long-term commitment to refugee inclusion and participation in policy dialogue, we are a founding member of the Türkiye Mülteci Konseyi (TMK)—a national platform designed to strengthen refugee representation and promote inclusive coordination between refugee-led and Turkish civil society organizations.
The fall of the Assad regime in Syria has reshaped the Syrian refugee policy landscape in Türkiye. The humanitarian response must now serve dual objectives: expanding support for those who wish to remain and integrate, while also preparing for the growing need to support voluntary return for those choosing to go back. We believe that partnerships between Turkish NGOs and Syrian Refugee-led organizations (RLOs) are essential to developing ideas towards a reimagined refugee protection landscape in Türkiye and ensuring that durable solutions are both equitable and informed by the communities they affect.
This can include building stronger co-governance mechanisms, amplifying displaced voices in national policy dialogue, and supporting dignified, informed, and rights-based Syrian refugee protection and return pathways. As a Turkish NGO dedicated to inclusion and protection of refugees in Türkiye, Hayata Destek looks forward to sharing insights from the field and contributing to collective efforts toward a more collaborative and accountable Syrian refugee and returnee policy and protection response in Türkiye.
