Minimum standards and essential needs in the protection of Syrian refugees in Turkey

UNHCR Executive Committee resolutions had recognized the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in mass influx and many bilateral international conventions, treaties, and agreements. The following rights have also emerged within UNHCR Executive Committee decisions, international human rights law, and international law. The significant central rights and the principle of law towards refugee and asylum seekers which are considered as the minimum standards are: 1) non-refoulement principles, 2) right to life, 3) right to protection from torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, 4) provision of an individual legal status, 5) right to asylum, 6) prohibition of discrimination, 7) right to liberty and security of person, 8) freedom of residence and movement, 9) family reunification, 10) right to an adequate standard of living, and 11) right to adequate housing. Until September 2020, Turkey had been a host country for 3,621,968 Syrian refugees1 who are located in eighty-one cities. Turkey applies the family reunification policy towards the refugees. However, because of the large number of Syrians, Turkish authorities struggle with providing adequate living and housing standards. Thus, the article will elaborate on the most crucial elements from the humanitarian point of view, that is family reunification, right to an adequate standard of living, and right to acceptable housing standards applied towards the Syrian refugees in Turkey in virtue of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey (1982), Law on Foreigners and International Protection No. 6458 of 2013, and Temporary Protection Regulation (2014).