Committee Name: United Nations High Commissioner for

Refugees (UNHCR)
Agenda Item: Refugees from Palestine and the Middle East
Country: The Republic of Türkiye

The Republic of Türkiye plays an important role in

migration crisis due to its geopolitics. Türkiye is a country located in Asia, and has a small part of Southeast Europe
called East Thrace, which means a bridge between the two continents. Türkiye has borders to the biggest 3; the Black,
the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea. Also, there are some neighbouring countries, such as Syria, Iraq, Georgia,
Armenia and Azerbaijan who are related to the agenda item. The current population of Türkiye is 85.3 million,
consisted of 75% Turks, 19% Kurds and the remaining 6% consists of other ethnicities such as Arabs, Albanians,
Bosniaks, Georgians and Romanis. Even though Türkiye is officially a secular country, the majority of people are
Muslims, At this point, with remarking the percentages of people from other ethnicities, we can clearly understand
that Türkiye is an immigrant-recieving country.
Due to its geopolity, many migrations happend through the history but we can say it has their origin back to
Ottomon Empire, where more than 6 ethnicities and 3 divine religions lived in. However, in the Post-Ottoman Empire
Era (where the Early Republic also took place) a population Exchange happened between Greece and Türkiye,
according to the Treaty of Lausanne. With the treaty 1.5 millions of Greek migrated to their own country but Türkiye
had to accept 500 thousands Muslims who were from different ethnicities. This situation led Muslim immigrants’
families to settle down in Türkiye as well. Over the years, plenty of migration happened, but one of the biggest crisis
Türkiye faced was because of Syrian Civil War. The war impacted other regions such as Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan
which also caused civilians of the regions to immigrate Türkiye. Since 2010, Türkiye has been hosting more than 4
millions of refugees, 3.6 being Syrians and rest from other ethnicities. However, we can freely say that the number has
changed, due to last migrations from Palestine to Türkiye.
Türkiye’s policy had led the citizens of it to struggle in means of economy, social and health. Therefore,
Türkiye is working on its Asylum Law again. Although, we can list the previous attempts of Türkiye as in following,

 Temporary Protection Regulation (2014)

Türkiye agreed on to provide a legal framework fort he protection of refugees for a short period of time.
 Establishment of Refugee Camps
Turkish Government established several Refugee Camps near its borders fort he immigrants.
 Integration Programs
The Prime Minister of Turkiye established a special Program for the refugee children to keep up with their
education and provided Turkish Language courses.
 EU-Turkiye Treaty and Collobrations with Organizations
The Europian Union had an agreement with Türkiye about Turkish Goverment to keep under control the
flow of immigration. In addition to that, many United Nation’s organs gave support Türkiye such as
UNICEF, UNHCR and some NGOs.
It would be beneficial to add that the government and its supporters keep their actions upon the crisis.
Solutions
As the delegate of Türkiye, we are aware of the ongoing crisis and willing to contribute in resolutions.
Although, we think our solutions will also be beneficial in terms of peace.
Support for Host Countries
One of the biggest challanges host countries face with is economically, and at this point we highly suggest
the countries who are not host to pay subvention.

Enhanced Humanitarian Aid

More international humanitarian aid means all refugees can get the basic things they need like food,
healthcare, and education. This aid should be managed by trusted international organizations to make
sure it’s used well such as WHO, UNDP and other UN bodies.

Education and Employment Opportunities

Education and jobs are one of the main solutions for helping refugees fit in and support themselves.
We suggest creating international programs that offer educational opportunities and job training for
refugees. Also, supporting local jobholders to employee refugees will be beneficial.

Strengthening Legal Protections

We urge all countries to strengthen legal protections for refugees. This includes making sure they can
access asylum procedures, protecting them from being forced to return, and providing legal help.

Being the delegate of Türkiye, we must say that we are honored to serve our solution ideas to the
high commissioners. Thank you for your concerns