Migration: Legal Status and Conceptual Confusion

As of 2022, according to official figures, Türkiye hosts a foreign population of more than 5 million, including 3.5 million Syrians and 500,000 Afghans^[i], and close to 10 million according to some unofficial estimates^[ii].

Update (November 2026): Returns to Syria accelerated after the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. According to the Presidency of Migration Management, the number of Syrians under temporary protection fell below 2.5 million in 2025.

Because of its geographical position, Türkiye has become a “destination country” or a “transit country” on the way to other countries, not only for Syrians but also for foreigners from many other states, above all Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and several African countries.

Let me say at the outset that until 2011, when mass migration from Syria to Türkiye began, Türkiye had no comprehensive, planned migration policy and no effective legal framework on migration. New institutions, comprehensive legislation and long-term policies were therefore needed, and steps were taken in that direction. Among them were a directive issued by the Ministry of Interior in 2012^[iii], a comprehensive migration law aligned with EU and international legislation adopted in April 2013^[iv], a regulation issued in 2014^[v] and the establishment of the migration authority (today the Presidency of Migration Management) in 2013.

Conceptual Confusion

In the early years, one of the terms most frequently used for Syrians, both in official statements and in the press, was guest, a word with no corresponding status in national or international law. Those who approached the issue from a religious perspective also used labels such as brother in faith, co-religionist, muhajir and the oppressed for Muslims such as Syrians and Afghans.

The time for hospitality is long past, yet despite the new regulations, not only citizens and the press but also politicians and administrators remain confused about which term to use for these people!

Related Concepts

This is why terms that seem close to one another but carry different meanings and legal consequences, such as “refugee”, “asylum seeker”, “migrant”, “holder of temporary protection” or “applicant for international protection”, need to be clarified with regard to the foreigners in Türkiye.

1. Migrant: This is the broadest migration term. Although there is no universally accepted definition, the Glossary of Migration Terms^[vi] and the UN define a migrant as a person who, for whatever reason, voluntarily or involuntarily, resides in a foreign country for more than one year. The term therefore covers not only those who migrate in pursuit of a better life for economic, educational or social reasons, as some claim, but also those who leave their country for the compelling reasons found in the definition of a refugee. The International Organization for Migration (IOM), for example, includes refugees in the migrant category.

All foreigners who have stayed in Türkiye for more than a year can be defined as migrants according to the UN, the IOM and the Glossary of Migration Terms.

Irregular Migrant: The term is used for people who enter the country without the required permits and documents (illegal entry), who settle or work there, or who enter legally but fail to leave within the permitted period. It also covers people who enter a country by legal or illegal means and use it as a transit country on their way from their country of origin to their intended destination.

These people lack legal status in the host country. Terms such as clandestine or illegal migrant, sometimes used instead, should be avoided because they associate the person with committing a crime.

Examples are Syrian or Afghan nationals who come to Türkiye with temporary intentions and want to cross into Europe via the Aegean Sea or the Evros (Meriç) River.

2. Holder of International Protection Status: When states cannot fulfil their duty to protect their own citizens, this status means that people who seek asylum in other countries can live in safety, are not sent back to dangerous places and can enjoy fundamental human rights. It is an umbrella status covering four concepts: refugee, conditional refugee, subsidiary protection and temporary protection.

a. Refugee: In general, a refugee is a person who, owing to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, has lost trust in their own state in the belief that it will not treat them impartially, leaves their country, applies for asylum in another country, and whose application is “accepted” by that country.

Owing to the reservation Türkiye made, as a party to the Geneva Convention^[vii], to its related Protocol^[viii], it does not legally grant refugee status to those seeking protection from outside Europe. Foreigners from Syria, Pakistan, Iraq or African countries therefore cannot be defined as refugees, since they do not come from a European country.

However, people who fled the war in Ukraine to Türkiye and whose applications are accepted may be granted refugee status, since they left their country because of events occurring in Europe.

b. Asylum Seeker / Prospective Refugee: The term refers to the category that precedes refugee status. As a fundamental human right, it denotes those who leave their country for the reasons listed in the refugee definition and seek refuge in another country.^[ix] They are people who have crossed into another country for these reasons but have not yet been able to apply for asylum, or whose application has not yet been accepted or is still under review.

Since an asylum seeker is regarded as a prospective refugee, people who cannot obtain refugee status in Türkiye because of the reservation to the Geneva Convention cannot obtain this status either.

c. Conditional Refugee Status: This is the status granted to foreigners or stateless persons found to meet the conditions of the refugee definition as a result of events occurring outside Europe (Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Art. 62). A conditional refugee is allowed to stay in Türkiye until resettled in a third country.

This status was designed for foreigners from outside Europe who cannot obtain full refugee status because of the reservation to the Geneva Convention.

Because of the geographical limitation it placed on the 1951 Geneva Convention, Türkiye grants full refugee status only to those coming from Europe. Those who come from outside Europe and request international protection therefore receive conditional refugee status if they meet the criteria, while Syrians fall under a separate regime, temporary protection.

d. Temporary Protection: This refers to the protection provided to foreigners who have been forced to leave their country, cannot return to it, arrive at or cross the border en masse seeking urgent and temporary protection, and whose international protection status cannot be determined individually.

For example, under national legislation the status granted to Syrians who came to Türkiye en masse, fleeing conflict and widespread violence and seeking protection, is “temporary protection”, and these people can be defined as “persons under temporary protection”. For this reason, the Presidency of Migration Management issues them a “Temporary Protection Identification Document”.

Foreigners arriving from a European country such as Ukraine, by contrast, apply not for temporary protection but for asylum, which grants a higher level of protection.

3. Stateless Person (Heimatlos): A person who is not considered a national by any state under the operation of its law. The term should not be understood as someone who simply lives far from their homeland.

This definition can be used for people from anywhere in the world who come to Türkiye, have been stripped of the citizenship of their own state and have not yet become Turkish citizens. Foreigners in Türkiye who maintain citizenship ties with their own countries cannot be considered stateless.

4. Holder of Subsidiary Protection Status:  Under the 2013 law, subsidiary protection status is granted to a foreigner or stateless person who does not qualify as a refugee or conditional refugee but who, if returned, would face the death penalty, torture or degrading treatment, or a personal threat arising from conflict in their country, and who therefore cannot or does not wish to avail themselves of that country’s protection. Persons benefiting from temporary protection in Türkiye cannot benefit from this protection.

Many foreigners such as Syrians cannot benefit from subsidiary protection because they are under temporary protection, and the term cannot be used for them.

Conclusion

Clearing up the conceptual confusion surrounding the foreign population that has migrated to Türkiye and using the correct definitions matters both for determining these people’s rights and responsibilities in daily life and for shaping migration policy.

In summary:

• Under the universal definition, everyone who has stayed in Türkiye for more than a year has migrant status.
• The great majority of foreigners in Türkiye who come from non-European countries such as Syria or Afghanistan are persons under temporary protection.
• Those who wish to move on from Türkiye to Europe or other continents are irregular migrants.
• Those who come from European countries such as Ukraine and request protection can be regarded as asylum seekers, and those whose applications are accepted as refugees.
• Labels such as holders of international protection status or stateless persons do not reflect the actual position and status of Syrians in Türkiye.

^[i]https://web.archive.org/web/20210717223705/https://www.amerikaninsesi.com/a/taleban-egemenligi-turkiye-yi-hedef-ulke-mi-yapacak/5969560.html

^[ii]https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%BCrkiye%27deki_Suriyeliler#:~:text=2021%20y%C4%B1l%C4%B1%20itibar%C4%B1yla%20T%C3%BCrkiye’de,ev%20sahipli%C4%9Fi%20yapan%20%C3%BClke%20yapmaktad%C4%B1r.

^[iii] Ministry of Interior Directive No. 62 on the Admission and Accommodation of Citizens of the Syrian Arab Republic and Stateless Persons Residing in the Syrian Arab Republic Who Came to Türkiye Seeking Mass Asylum

^[iv] Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection (2013)

^[v] Temporary Protection Regulation (2014)

^[vi] https://www.goc.gov.tr/kurumlar/goc.gov.tr/files/goc_terimleri_sozlugu(1).pdf

^[vii] 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (Geneva Convention), signed under the auspices of the United Nations

^[viii] 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees

^[ix] 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (Geneva Convention)

Under Article 3/3 of the Settlement Law, those who take refuge in Türkiye out of necessity, intending to stay temporarily rather than to settle, are called asylum seekers (sığınmacı).