The role of humanitarian aid organizations in policies for Syrian refugees: The Turkish Red Crescent example

In this study, the activities of the Turkish Red Crescent, in the field of humanitarian aid operations for the Syrian Refugee crisis, have been investigated in order to understand the crisis management process thoroughly. Significant findings were obtained about the progress of the overall process with the experiences and opinions of the Turkish Red Crescent migration program managers and the gradual advancement of the migration management preferences. During the research; the humanitarian principles, partnership relations, collaborations, accumulated know-how, transparency, and accountability of the Turkish Red Crescent's migration programs, projects, and activities developed for the management of the Syrian refugee crisis were evaluated. In addition, the claimed holistic approach, which is argued to be an innovative model for aid action with a capacity to raise awareness in rights-based action for new humanitarian programs to be developed, is analyzed. The rights-based humanitarian approach and its correct applications are the outstanding factors in the Turkish Red Crescent's success in building strong partnerships that enable rapid growth and efficient operation management. Parallel to this, the Turkish Red Crescent came to the forefront with its emergency response activities and its role in supporting the state in the management of the crisis in the initial emergency phases. And in the later stages of the crisis, a 'rights-based' understanding is observed to be applied in all its activities to achieve more humane and human rights-oriented services. Contrary to the conservative and religious aid models that are mostly adopted for need-oriented emergency aid, the goal of rights-based approach is centered around basic human rights. When the rights-based approach is examined in the current literature, a perspective that proposes the advocacy of basic human rights, beyond legal discussions and need-oriented humanitarian aid, by humanitarian actors stands out. In this study, despite the criticisms claiming it to be too focused on political discourse and legal ground; the humanitarian action dimension of the rights-based approach, as a more appropriate model for human dignity, is discussed. When the activities carried out by the Turkish Red Crescent were investigated, the relationship between the rights-based approach, migration, and humanitarian action organizations was evaluated under theoretical framework; and the issue of putting the rights-based understanding into action was discussed in detail as a novel contribution to the literature. Keywords: Temporary Protection, Rights Based Approach, Humanitarian Aid, Humanitarian Action, Humanitarian Crisis, Syrian Refugee Crisis, Turkish Red Crescent