ISTANBUL, Jan 17, 2016 - In a major shift of policy, the Turkish Government has published new regulations which will allow many of the 2.5 million Syrian refugees in the country to apply for work permits.
Registered Syrian refugees who have been in Turkey for at least six months will be allowed to apply in the province where they first registered. Syrians with permits would have to be paid at least the minimum wage. Now many refugees work illegally to make ends meet and are often paid very low wages.
The regulations will apply both to refugees living in cities and to the 10 per cent housed in Turkish refugee camps.
Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, hailed the decision as courageous and a major step forward for refugees.
“Jobs mean dignity,” he said, “a dignified life where you don’t have to beg for money or to look for money from associations or the government. I think it is very big step.”
Turkey currently hosts more refugees than any other nation in the world.
Read more on this link http://www.unhcr.org/uk/news/latest/2016/1/569ca19c6/high-commissioner-welcomes-turkish-work-permits-syrian-refugees.html
An announcement in Turkey’s official gazette said that work permits would be granted to refugees who have fled to the country to escape the conflicts in their homeland.http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-granting-work-permits-to-syrian-refugees-published-officially.aspx?pageID=238&nID=93905&NewsCatID=345
It did not specify nationality, but the measure chiefly applies to the over 2.2 million Syrians who have fled the almost five-year conflict for the safety of Turkey, as well as some 300,000 Iraqis.
Refugees in Turkey are not allowed to work or to be employed in the country without a valid work permit, the government decree published in the gazette makes clear.
New arrivals will able to apply for a work permit six months after they obtained a temporary protection status, the announcement said. The regulation also applies to those who have already resettled.
Turkish employers have allowed roughly 2,000 – or 0.074% – of Turkey’s 2.7 million Syrians to apply for work permits under new legislation enacted two months ago, according to government figures provided to aid workers at a meeting in late March. The number of permits granted has not yet been disclosed.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/11/fewer-than-01-of-syrians-in-turkey-in-line-for-work-permits
Video to explain applying for a work permit
http://imprhumanitarian.org/en/animated-videos-work-permit-foreigners-temporary-protection-release/
