Page 54 - Syrians in Türkiye - Special Report

GRAND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF TÜRKİYE THE OMBUDSMAN INSTITUTION

Since its establishment, DGMM has been conducting activities such as registration,
identification, access to basic rights and services, voluntary repatriation, and placement
in third countries. DGMM has started a new study in cooperation with UNHCR
called “The Project of Updating the Records of Syrians under Temporary Protection
in Türkiye,” for which preparations were begun in 2016. The process started with the
opening of the Ministry of Interior’s project in Hatay on January 7, 2017, and the
process still continues.

There is no doubt that this humanitarian crisis, the most serious in the history of
Türkiye and rare in world history, one of Türkiye’s major misfortunes is that DGMM,
which is the main institution responsible for the relevant issue was established by law
in April 2013 and its activities started in April 2014. By the time DGMM began its
32
activities, the number of refugees in Türkiye had exceeded 1 million people. Because
entries occurred in large numbers, reliable registrations were impossible. Another
important problem was that a large number of irregular migrants also entered Türkiye
during the same period. The refugees that went to European countries during the years
2014-2015 and to a certain extent in 2016 have also played an important role in the
records becoming unreliable. Another important problem is that the information in
the biometric records, besides fingerprints and biometric photographs, is based on
the statements of the refugees. The authenticity of the information given by many
refugees could not be checked because of their particular vulnerabilities as refugees.
Another important problem is that dialogue has been cut off with the administration
of the country the refugees come from. In this case, it is very difficult to investigate the
accuracy of the refugees’ declarations and documents. For all of these reasons, DGMM
began a new project at the beginning of 2017 to renew the above-mentioned records
and attain both reliable and more detailed data, which is of the utmost importance for
migration management. This project will provide not only verification of data but also
diversification, for the 57 different types of data included in the initial registration will
be increased to 99 types of data. The project, which was scheduled to be completed in
6 months, will obtain the most detailed information, including Syrians’, personal data,
address, profession, education, and special needs. In this way, it will also be possible to
develop integration policies. Updating registrations will also allow security screenings
that were not done before, and in this way, security concerns regarding refugees will be
reduced. A total of 509 personnel, of whom 350 speak Arabic, have been employed for
this data update, which will be performed via fingerprints. The plan is to update the
records of all Syrians in our country in 6 months using mobile registration vehicles

32 DGMM, Temporary Protection (accessed July 7, 2017); available from http://www.goc.gov.tr/icerik3/gecici-
koruma_363_378_4713.

54 SYRIANS IN TÜRKİYE SPECIAL REPORT