Turkey — Migrant Presence Monitoring - Situation Report (May 2020)

According to the latest available figures from the Turkish Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM), there are more than 4.6 million foreign nationals present in Turkish territory, 3.6 million of whom
are seeking international protection. Most of those seeking international protection are Syrians (3,579,318 individuals) who are granted the temporary protection status in Turkey. In addition, international protection applicants are most frequently nationals of Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iraq constitute another group of foreign nationals. According to DGMM, as of end of 2019, there were 56,417 international protection applicants present in Turkey. In addition, there are 1,030,826 foreign nationals under residence permit holder status; this number includes humanitarian residence holders.

Turkey’s temporary protection regime grants 3,579,318 Syrian nationals the right to legally stay in Turkey as well as obtain some level of access to basic services. The vast majority --namely 3,516,077 individuals, live outside of formal camps and instead are spread across many of the Turkish provinces. As such, only 63,241 Syrians live in seven formal camps, the majority of which are located close to the Syrian border.