The integration of Syrian refugees: An analysis specific to the municipalities of Istanbul

The outbreak of Syrian Civil War in 2011 has displaced millions of people. This immigration activity, which has been the widest refugee outflow since 1940s, has affected many countries. Sharing a border with Syria, Turkey has been the most affected country by the flow. Additionally, Istanbul has been distinguished amongst the 81 provinces of Turkey as the "province" that has become the "living space" for the largest refugee population. This thesis aims to reveal the authority and responsibilities of local authorities who host tens of thousands of Syrian refugees; how they resolve the problems that result from the current situation, what they do concerning the integration of Syrian refugees, as well as their suggestions on ways to handle this situation in a better way taking Istanbul county municipalities as the basis. The practice and policies of the 10 of the 39 district municipalities in Istanbul have been analyzed by interviewing the partaking authorities. The role of the local administration in Istanbul regarding the management of the process has been investigated. The findings obtained by the research show that municipalities experience many legal, financial and juridical obstacles during the delivery of the services they provide regarding Syrian refugees and these obstacles have been classified as "limits resulting from legal legislations", "insufficient financing", "lack of staff", "technical infrastructure obstacle", "discrepancy between service demand and delivery" and "coordination with non-governmental organizations". Based on research findings, it can be argued that local authorities play an important role in realizing the integration of Syrian refugees. In addition, for this process to be conducted systematically, it is necessary that scopes of authority are defined which will empower the local authorities by making the immigration policy of central administration clearer. It is believed that the research findings can help the reader attain a better understanding of the effects of the current Syrian immigration on the municipalities, a part of İstanbul local authorities, offer insight into planned immigration management efforts. Keywords: Immigration, refugee, urban refugees, integration, local authorities