ICMCEUROPE WelcometoEurope.pdf (5.89 MB)

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‘geographical limitation’, meaning only
Europeans 83 can be considered as refugees.
Non-European refugees (mostly
Iraqis, Iranians, Afghans and Somalis)
are granted ‘temporary asylum seeker
status,’ and UNHCR is responsible for
their registration, RSD, as well as for
finding durable solutions. To date,
the only exception is the temporary
protection granted to Syrian nationals
seeking international protection, who
began arriving in June 2011. 84
The Turkish government recently
adopted a new migration and asylum
law which will strengthen refugee
protection, while not lifting the geographical
limitation. 85
The lack of legal recognition of non-
European refugees and their exclusion
from mainstream legal processes and
services means resettlement is the only
available durable solution for Iranian
and Iraqi refugees in Turkey.
UNHCR has projected a total resettlement
need amongst Iranian and
Iraqi refugees of 18,600 persons –
13,710 Iraqi refugees and 4,890 Iranian
83 Member States of the Council of Europe.
84 They are granted temporary protection by the
Government and hosted in camps managed by the
Turkish authorities in close cooperation with the
Turkish Red Crescent.
85 In April 2013, Turkey adopted a new asylum law,
the Law on Foreigners and International Protection,
which establishes a civil institution to handle all
asylum matters and grants social and economic
rights to all asylum applicants. It also establishes
procedural safeguards for the processing of claims,
however as there is a transitional period of one
year, no major changes are expected in 2013. It also
maintains the geographical limitation.
refugees – and plans to submit 4,650
Iraqi refugees and 2,650 Iranian refugees
in 2014. 86 Resettlement will continue
to be used strategically in Turkey
to enhance the protection space for all
refugees and it will continue to be the
main durable solution available to non-
European refugees in 2013.
The US has historically accepted the
majority of Iranian and Iraqi refugees
resettled from Turkey. In 2011, for
example, 67% of departures travelled to
the US. 87 Canada, Australia and Norway
have traditionally offered resettlement
places specifically for Iranians and
Iraqis from Turkey; while in Europe,
Finland, Germany, and Norway have
resettled refugees from Turkey, and
France, the Netherlands, Portugal and
the UK occasionally consider a small
number of cases for resettlement.
4.2. Iraqi refugees in Jordan,
Lebanon and Syria
‘Ahmed joined the new Iraq army in 2004
and was assigned to work in his home district
Al Sadr City. During this period, he survived
several assassination attempts but was
unable to escape being abducted in 2005.
Until his family paid his captors, he was held
for a week and tortured. Ahmed fled to Syria
in 2006 with his wife and four children. The
86 UNHCR Projected Global Resettlement Needs 2014
87 ICMC screens and prepares cases for adjudication
by the US immigration authorities through its
Resettlement Support Centre (RSC) in Turkey (covering
Turkey and the Middle East) formerly known
as the Overseas Processing Entity (OPE).
CHAPTER VI CHAPTER V
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER VII