Syrian Refugees in the Process of Resettlement: Analyzing Turkey’s Migration Legislation in the Context of Gender

Numbers of Syrians, affected from conflicts had to migrate to Turkey as a result of the Civil War began in 2011. 3.5 millions of those Syrian refugees, who have been forced to be uprooted, settled down in Turkey. In this study, laws and legislation applied for Syrian refugees are evaluated through a gender perspective. Document analyzes is chosen as the main methodology for collecting data and interpreting them. Most of those people who have been uprooted being affected negatively by this situation, however, the disadvantaged parts of society like women and LGBTI+ individuals are affected more negatively. Presence of gender sensitive legislation is important for women and LGBTI+s. It is important to Turkey’s legislations on migration, primarily the Law on Foreigners and International Protection and Regulation on Temporary Protection, worsen this situation. In order to be regulated in favor of the refugees, Turkish legislation on migration has to be aligned with the international migration charters, mainly with the UN Migration Charter. The objective of this study is to find out the insensitive articles about gender in Turkish migration legislation and offer more sensitive ones which are in line with the international migration charters. It is unveiled by this study that the legislation implemented for Syrian refugees are not gender sensitive in Turkey and they are compatible with neither Istanbul Agreement nor other relevant international agreements