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Report on the Study Visit Conducted to Hungary Related to Ukrainian Refugees By the Ombudsman Institution of Türkiye

humanitarian duty and embraced the Syrians who have escaped from the
conflict in their country in search of a safe place. The first group of 252
people fleeing the conflicts in their country entered our territory on 29
April 2011. While 14,237 Syrians were placed under temporary protection
in 2012, this number increased rapidly, exceeding 1,519,000 in 2014. This
trend of rapid increase has continued, and currently, the number of
Syrians under temporary protection in our country is 3,763,211.

Surely, no country can be expected to be ready for such an intense and
sudden refugee influx. On the other hand, it is not possible to predict
in advance how long wars will last and when the victimised civilians
will return to their homes. The Republic of Türkiye has also taken the
necessary action in terms of legislation, institutionalisation, and practices
in order to respond rapidly to this crisis; practices have been improved
according to the determined gaps and observed needs.

The Republic of Türkiye became a party to the United Nations Geneva
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951 with a “geographical
reservation”. For this reason, refugee status cannot be granted to those
who have come from outside the member states of the Council of Europe
and taken refuge in Türkiye. It defines people other than Europeans, who
can get refugee status, as “conditional refugees” and provides temporary
protection until they are resettled in a third country. It has not been
foreseen that the war in Syria would last this long, and the Syrians who
have entered our country since 2011 were seen as “guests” in the first
days. Even in official publications, the expression “our Syrian guests” has
been used. However, due to the continuation of the war and thus the entry
of Syrians into our country in large numbers, the relevant legislation and
administrative structure have had to be updated according to the needs.
In this context, the Law on Foreigners and International Protection (LFIP)
was adopted in 2013 and entered into force in 2014. With the LFIP, the
procedures and principles with regard to the scope and implementation
of protection to be provided to foreigners who apply for protection in
Türkiye have been regulated. Also, the Directorate General of Migration
Management (currently Presidency of Migration Management) has
been established. In addition to these issues, temporary protection has
also been regulated in the same law, and definitions such as refugee,
conditional refugee, and secondary protection have been given in detail.
Accordingly, with the Temporary Protection Regulation, which entered

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