Attachments
Turkey, hit by a devastating earthquake in 2023, continues to host the world’s largest number of refugees under a comprehensive and inclusive legal framework. Nearly half of the refugees have spent most of their lives in Turkey, and around 800,000 were born in Turkey.
UNHCR is supporting governments and partnering with multiple stakeholders, including civil society organizations, to work in a coordinated and collaborative manner to promote protection for refugees, inclusion in services, access to solutions and improved social cohesion.
Responsibility sharing remains essential, with funding for refugee responses being diversified and flexibly allocated, complementing resettlement and complementary pathways.
Priority Areas
In Turkey’s northwestern Marmara region, UNHCR and partners are working to improve access to services, increase self-reliance and promote social cohesion for some 800,000 refugees, mainly living in urban areas, while UNHCR is providing life-saving assistance to detained and pushed-back survivors along the western land border.
UNHCR is facilitating access and the provision of protection and services to 232,000 refugees along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. UNHCR is working with law enforcement agencies to improve reception conditions for people detained or rescued at maritime borders, address emergency needs and strengthen access to international protection.
In the southeast region, which hosts 1.7 million refugees, UNHCR is prioritizing the key needs of earthquake-affected refugees and host communities through shelter, core relief items and cash assistance, protection monitoring and advocacy work.
UNHCR is working in Central and Eastern Anatolia and the Black Sea region to strengthen access to rights and services for 634,000 refugees, as well as access to livelihoods. In the east, UNHCR is focusing on monitoring irregular movements and access to territory and asylum.
