Türkiye will be printing the new identity cards, passports and driving licenses of Syrian citizens as part of its support to the new era in its neighbor following the fall of Bashar Assad.
A report in Turkish newspaper Sabah said Turkish institutions are working to meet the requests of the new administration in Syria, which includes printing said documents, as well as the status of Syrians returning from Türkiye.
The Migration Management Directorate will be setting up offices in Syria to coordinate the entry and exits of Syrians in Türkiye with the new Syrian officials in order to ensure the refugees don’t struggle with identification.
Additionally, Türkiye is working on the status of Syrians opting to return or stay, Sabah said.
The “refugee” status of Syrians will be lifted and Türkiye will enforce the same procedure used for other foreign nationals, which will mean Syrian citizens will have to use their passports and apply for a visa to enter Türkiye. The visa procedure for Syrians, however, is expected to be easier than for other countries.
Syrians choosing to stay in Türkiye will have to adhere to regulations, including applying for a residence permit.
More than 25,000 Syrian nationals have returned to their country between Dec. 9 and Dec. 23, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced earlier this week. It marks a record compared to the average of 11,000 returns monthly.
The number skyrocketed after the Syrian revolution toppled the Baathist regime of Bashar Assad after years of civil war that displaced millions.
According to recent surveys, at least 70% of Syrians in Türkiye want to return to their homeland, up from the 45% prior to Assad’s fall.
Officials predict returns will increase gradually over time and expedite in June when schools go on holiday.
Türkiye has been home to more than 3 million Syrian refugees since the war began more than a decade ago and pursued an open-door policy for the displaced from its southern neighbor. It now seeks to ensure the voluntary and safe return of refugees as the new administration takes the reins in the country.
A vast majority of Syrian refugees in Türkiye are optimistic about Syria’s future following the ouster of Bashar Assad, and a significant number of them are eager to return to their homeland, according to a recent survey.
The survey from Istanbul-based Areda, conducted with 1,100 Syrians across Türkiye on Dec. 9-11, showed 91% of Syrians are happy with the end of Assad’s regime and 71.5% are hopeful about their country’s future. The study showed that 45.5% of Syrians are willing to return home if the situation in Syria improves, while 26.7% are eager to go back “as soon as possible.”
Türkiye prioritized safe, voluntary and dignified returns of Syrians, a policy adopted long before the fall of the Assad regime. Yet, in the past, refugees had fewer motives to return and mostly to areas liberated from terrorist groups in Syria’s north. Yerlikaya noted that more than 763,000 people returned to Syria from Türkiye since 2017.
In the past, Türkiye constructed briquette houses for displaced Syrians in that country’s relatively safer north. In the war-torn country, where a large number of neighborhoods remain in ruins, finding a house in good condition is a challenge for many. Yerlikaya said some 110,000 families live in houses built by Turkish charities and sponsors.
He said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan instructed them at the Cabinet meeting on Monday to build more houses for returning Syrians and they would cooperate with civic society organizations for construction.