UNHCR continued to collaborate with the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (UTBA) to promote access to legal assistance and legal aid for people under temporary and international protection. Four legal clinics in Sanliurfa, Gaziantep, Hatay and Kilis provided legal assistance to 4,992 Syrians, an increase of 137% compared to 2020. As in the previous year, legal assistance requests concerned temporary protection procedures, such as registration, re-activation of registration records, and appeals against cancellation of temporary protection status; access to rights including health, social assistance, education, employment; and civil affairs, such as marriage, divorce and custody. The legal clinics disseminated information about temporary protection procedures, administrative detention, access to employment and labor law, family law, protection mechanisms against violence, rights of children, resettlement, and citizenship procedures to approximately 1,000 Syrians. Legal clinics also held seven in-person meetings to exchange information, knowledge and experience on legal and administrative issues concerning temporary protection beneficiaries in Türkiye with local authorities and civil society organizations, such as the provincial directorates of migration management (PDMM), family and social services (PDoFSS), and population and citizenship affairs (PDoPCA), as well as the Turkish Employment Agency, bar associations, Turkish Red Crescent, municipalities, chambers of commerce, universities and NGOs.
UNHCR and UTBA supported provision of legal aid by 22 bar associations in Adana, Ankara, Aydin, Bursa, Canakkale, Cankiri, Denizli, Edirne, Erzurum, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Istanbul, Izmir, Kayseri, Kilis, Mersin, Sakarya, Sanliurfa, Trabzon and Van. More than a half (56%) of 4,373 legal aid appointments for coverage of attorney and litigation fees were submitted by Syrians.
UNHCR organized and delivered capacity development activities targeting nearly 10,000 lawyers and intern lawyers registered at 25 Bar Associations in its effort to promote access to justice, including access to legal aid by refugees and asylum-seekers in Türkiye. The training sessions that took place online and in-person focused on a broad range of topics such as fundamental principles of international refugee law, international protection procedures, deportation, administrative detention and appeal procedures, relevant jurisprudence of national and regional courts, rights of, and protection mechanisms for, refugee women and children, and civil law. These activities aimed at enhancing the technical know-how of lawyers providing services to refugees focusing on specific topics including asylum procedures and subject matters falling under administrative and civil law.
UNHCR renewed its Protocol of Cooperation with the Justice Academy of Türkiye aiming at increasing the awareness and capacity of judges and prosecutors working in the civil, administrative and criminal jurisprudence on international and temporary protection. In preparation of the training of trainers and regional trainings planned for 2022 within this cooperation, UNHCR prepared a survey to assess the areas for judiciary personnel training.
UNHCR also participated in the workshop organized by the Ombudsman Institution of Türkiye which aimed at developing a training curriculum for the Ombudsman personnel. Following UNHCR’s guidance and inputs at the meeting, the module on “Migrants’ Rights and Social Policies” was re-titled, its outcomes were defined and UNHCR was requested to be involved in subsequent stages.