Migration governance between national policy and local practice: A case study of Düzce

Turkey, especially after 2011, has received immigration from countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran, especially Syria, and many other countries, and has become the country with the highest number of asylum seekers in the world. On the evolution of intense refugee mobility into a crisis in Turkey, especially with the migration originating from Syria, efforts of public institutions, local governments and non-governmental organizations to come together to find solutions to emerging problems and to bring new regulations necessitated the development of a governance approach. Based on this requirement, the Law on Foreigners and International Protection (YUKK) was enacted in 2013. In the YUKK, which determines the rights and obligations of refugees, refugees' access to basic rights such as registration with the protection system in the country where they migrate, access to health services, education services and aid are defined. However, there are some deficiencies in the access of refugees to these rights, which are defined due to standardized procedures. As a matter of fact, this thesis study aims to reveal what are the obstacles arising from the lack of cooperation between national-level institutions and local governments and local institutions, that is, the inability to fully provide migration governance. With this intention, in-depth interviews were conducted with 118 people, including Syrian people under Temporary Protection (GK) and Afghan and Iraqi refugees under International Protection (UK), employees of public institutions serving refugees and NGO workers in Düzce Province which is the transit point of big cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Kocaeli. As it is understood from the findings, it has been seen that the policies determined at the national level tend to prioritize national security instead of providing the services that refugees need, and that there is no opportunity and ability to act independently from the national policy at the local level. In this study, which focuses on the concept of migration governance, in addition to the decision makers at the national level, local governments and relevant public institutions have been referenced to say in the policies to be implemented and act in cooperation. What is meant by cooperation is coordination in refugees' access to fundamental rights that affect their lives, such as education, health, social support and social cohesion. Therefore, one of the main objectives of this study has been to explain how Turkey's current migration policies, which are shaped within the framework of international and national discourses, are responded to locally. In addition, in the context of current migration governance debates, it has been focused on how the national policies determined in the center are reflected on the local, implemented and their effects on refugees, through the example of Düzce, a small satellite city. In this context, while examining how the uncertainty in the national migration policy and the security-oriented approach are reflected in the local practices through the example of the city of Düzce, attention is drawn to how local governments and NGOs affect migration policies even though they do not have any authority defined in the law. Again, the tactics developed by refugees in order to continue their daily lives when they encounter obstacles in accessing rights and services are also tried to be deciphered.