English Translation: Foreigners’ Rights and Responsibilities

The following is the British English translation of the Directorate of Migration Management’s article titled “Rights and Responsibilities“.

Rights and Responsibilities

1. General Principles

The rights and benefits granted to foreigners under international protection shall not be construed to exceed those granted to Turkish citizens.

2. Education

Applicants or those with protection status and their family members benefit from primary and secondary education services with identity documents issued to their names in accordance with their status. Similarly, foreigners under temporary protection can access education with a Temporary Protection Identity Document issued to their names. The procedures and principles governing the education services for these foreigners are specified in the Ministry of National Education’s Circular No: 2014/21.

3. Access to Social Aid and Services

Applicants, those with international protection status and persons under temporary protection who are in need may access social aid and services through the Social Aid and Solidarity Foundations within the provincial governorates.

4. Healthcare

Those applicants or persons with international protection status who;

• do not have any health insurance and don’t have any means to pay for the same are subject to the provisions of the Social Security and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510 dated 31/5/2006 for a period of one year from the date of registration of the international protection application. Such a one-year time limit shall not be sought for those with special needs and those whose insurance registration is deemed appropriate by the Ministry. An appropriation shall be made in the Presidency budget to pay the insurance contributions of those who will benefit from general health insurance. The whole contribution or a certain percentage thereof shall be demanded from those whose contributions had been paid by the Presidency, depending on their ability to pay. Foreigners whose application is decided negatively by the administration are excluded from the scope of general health insurance.
• Those who are later found to have health insurance or the ability to pay, or whose application was made only for medical treatment, shall be notified to the Social Security Institution within ten days at the latest to terminate their general health insurance coverage and the treatment and medication costs incurred shall be recovered from those concerned.

On the other hand, Health services for foreigners under temporary protection are regulated by Article 27 of the Temporary Protection Regulation.

5. Employment

With regard to access to the labour market,

a- The applicant or conditional refugee may apply for a work permit six months after the date of the international protection application.

b- The refugee or person with a second protection status may work as a dependent or independent person from the moment of receiving the status. Provisions in other parts of the legislation regarding the jobs and professions prohibited to foreigners are reserved. The identity document issued to a refugee or a person with secondary protection status shall be a substitute for a work permit and this shall be written on the identity document.

c- Refugee’s and secondary protection status holder’s access to the labour market may be restricted for a certain period of time by agriculture, industry and service sectors, a specific profession, line of work or territorial and geographical area where the situation in the labour market and developments in working life and sectoral and economic conditions regarding employment make it necessary. However, these restrictions shall not apply to refugees and secondary protection beneficiaries who have resided in Turkey for three years or who are married to Turkish citizens or have children of Turkish nationality.

ç- The procedures and principles regarding the employment of applicants or persons with international protection status shall be determined by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in consultation with the Ministry.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security issued the Regulation on the Employment of International Protection Applicants and Persons with International Protection Status dated 26 April 2016, numbered 29695. The regulations on the work of Syrians under temporary protection were drafted out under the responsibility of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, consulting the opinion of our Ministry and the study prepared was published in the Official Gazette dated 15/01/2016 and numbered 29594 as the Regulation of the Council of Ministers numbered 2016/8375 and entered into force.

6. Allowance

Except for inadmissible applicants according to Article 72 of the Law and those included in the scope of accelerated evaluation according to Article 79, the applicant who is determined to be in need may be granted an allowance within the framework of the procedures and principles to be determined by the Ministry with the approval of the Ministry of Finance.

7. Responsibilities

In addition to these, applicants or international protection beneficiaries have a duty to notify, a duty to cooperate and tell the truth, a duty to comply with the law, a duty to reimburse for unjustly used services and a duty to comply with an invitation.

In addition to the obligations set out in Part Three of Law No. 6458, the applicant or person with protection status shall be responsible for:

a- Notifying, in thirty days, any changes to their up-to-date employment status;

b- Notifying, in thirty days, their income, securities and real estate properties;

c- Notifying, in twenty work days, any changes to their addresses, identity details and civil statuses;

ç- Paying back the costs in whole or in part in the event  that it is determined that they have benefited unfairly from the services, aids and other facilities provided to them;

d- Fulfilling what has been demanded by the Directorate of Migration Management, subject to the governing legislation.

Those who do not comply with the obligations under the relevant legislation and those whose applications and international protection status have been decided unfavourably may be restricted in terms of other rights, saving education and basic health services.

---

The above text is the British English translation of the following webpage: https://www.goc.gov.tr/hak-ve-yukumlulukler