Implementation of refugee protection in Turkey: A case of protection officers working in csos in Ankara


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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Sosyal Politika Anabilim Dalı, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2021

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Öğrenci: FATMA BERNA ÇETİNALP

Danışman: Besim Can Zırh

Özet:

Turkey, as a country of asylum, holds more than 3.5 million of Syrians under temporary protection as well as half a million of non-Syrians under international protection. This huge population brings a great deal of discussion including the implementation of refugee protection in Turkey as well as the definition of protection in the context of forced migration. Therefore, this study aims to understand the term protection proposed by the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) in the context of forced migration and how it operates in Turkey via Civil Society Organizations. Research also intends to find the gap between ideal understanding of protection and its practical application to the refugees in Turkey through civil society institutions. To understand this gap, this thesis aims to find answers to questions as follows: (1) What is the definition of protection according to UNHCR and how it operates this definition in Turkey (2) How to understand the role of Protection Officers in this process? (3) What is the difference in between the ideal protection that is suggested by UNHCR and its implementation by civil society organizations and how this difference can be diminished? In responding to these questions this research includes a contextualization about the concept of protection and its interpretation by UNHCR. A case study including interviews with 22 protection staff who are implementing protection from the civil society organizations in Turkey, which are operational and implementing partners of UNHCR, will be held in order to understand the implementation of the protection.