Page 161 - Syrians in Türkiye - Special Report

GRAND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF TÜRKİYE THE OMBUDSMAN INSTITUTION

However, especially after 2015, many institutions and organizations, especially NGOs
which receive funds from foreign resources, have organized and offered a large number
of vocational courses and gave certifications, but it is doubtful whether these courses
will provide any economic value or future opportunities. It is clear that urgent measures
should be taken in this regard.

XI. SOCIAL ASSISTANCE

In the Integrated Social Assistance Information System, eligibility of Turkish citizens
for social assistance is determined not based on the information stated by the applicant
to the Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundation but on the basis of the administrative
records and social review reports from inquiries made through the central databases. The
aid made through this system is verified during each payment period through relevant
central database inquiries. This is also the case for foreigners who are not citizens of
Türkiye, those who benefit from international protection in Türkiye, those who apply for
international protection in Türkiye, and those who benefit from temporary protection.
However, as the administrative records of Syrians are not present in the central database
of the public institutions of Türkiye, they cannot benefit sufficiently from the other
Social Assistance programs in scope of the Law on Social Assistance and Solidarity
No. 3294.

The most striking problem about social assistance is that aid is distributed by very
different parties, such as AFAD, MFSP, municipalities, and local and international non-
governmental organizations, and there is no coordination between these parties. As a
result of our interviews with both administrations and non-governmental organizations,
we learned that some Syrians have received benefits repeatedly while others have not
been able to receive help, and that some people can receive the same types of social
assistance repeatedly.

Using the advanced information infrastructure of the Directorate General of Social
Assistance and including local administrations in data sharing within the framework
of certain restrictions and security measures that the Directorate General of Social
Assistance plans to carry out with the Turkish Red Crescent, will help to reduce
duplicate assistance to same person, decrease complications and coordination problems,
and planning social assistance programs for Syrians based on needs analysis.

We also learned from these interviews that there is a perception among local people
that aid provided for Syrians by municipal administrations is comes out of resources
budgeted for local citizens, and some complaints have been received on this issue. As
a result of this, some municipalities have started looking for different solutions for

SYRIANS IN TÜRKİYE SPECIAL REPORT 161