The Syrian-Turkish Joint Committee attended a meeting with the director of the Immigration Department in Istanbul to discuss the reality of Syrian refugees in Turkey, their legal status, and the challenges they are facing at the legal and societal levels.
The meeting brought together Coordinator of the Syrian Opposition Coalition’s (SOC) Department of Refugee Affairs and member of the Syrian-Turkish Joint Committee Adnan al-Rahmoun, representatives of the Solutions Table organization, the Forum of Civil Society Organizations, and the Syrian House.
Rahmon discussed with the director of Immigration Department ways to facilitate procedures for receiving patients with incurable and chronic diseases from northwestern Syria for treatment. He also raised the issue of temporary protection ID cards that will be revoked, and ways to reactivate them.
Rahmon also discussed the issue of Syrian students residing in the liberated areas who enrolled in Turkish universities without a temporary protection ID card or a student card. He also raised the issue of humanitarian residence permit and the issue of Syrian asylum seekers returning from Greece.
The joint committee called for setting a deadline for Syrian refugees who reside in a province other than the one they were registered to update their information before the start of the campaign that the Turkish Ministry of Interior will jointly launch with the Directorate General of Migration Management in 81 Turkish provinces. The committee called for directing these requests to the Directorate General of Migration Management in Ankara for processing.
The joint committee urged all Syrian nationals in Turkey to register themselves at the civil registry where they reside so that their registration information matches the information in their temporary protection ID cards. It pointed out that those who fail to do so will risk committing a legal violation should they are found to be residing outside the province where they were originally registered. It also urged Syrian refugees to attend the integration programs. It pointed out that Syrian refugees whose temporary protection ID cards were revoked in Istanbul can check with the Immigration Department in Tuzla district to apply for a new ID card in the provinces that still issue temporary protection ID cards.
For his part, the Director of Immigration Department said that two warnings will be issued to Syrian refugees who fail to register themselves at the civil registry in the province where they were originally registered. He said that those who do not comply will have their temporary protection ID cards invalidated.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
