By Fatih Kiyman | Communication Expert
Ala and Suad are originally from Sinjar, Iraq. They came to Turkey through Syria in 2015 with their two children. Suad was working in the construction sector, he could receive his pay on time, they had relatives nearby so they had a relatively stable living. Their third child, Mustafa, was born here in Mersin 18 months ago. And this is when things became complicated for the family.
As a piece of background info, you should know that in Turkey, while Iraqi refugees are registered under ‘international protection’ status, Syrian refugees are registered under ‘temporary protection status. Thus, being of Iraqi origin, Ala and Suad’s family was registered under ‘international protection’.
Ala explains that, when Mustafa was born and registered, she noticed that his protection ID looked different than theirs. And she thought ‘Oh, as he is born here, maybe he just became a Turkish citizen!’ and sensed a bittersweet joy that her son would perhaps have a safe future guaranteed no matter how events unfolded back home. This was not the case though…
Only later on, when Mustafa was already a few months old and got sick, that this mistake was noticed. A staff member at the hospital noticed that the child, despite being Iraqi, had a temporary protection ID. Local authorities were informed and as it happened, the family was fined for ‘forgery.’ On top of it, Mustafa lost his status and thus a there was a hospital fee to be paid! This is when they family contacted Support to Life. As soon as being notified, STL got in touch with all relevant parties – the registration office, the hospital, the bar association. Necessary documentation was issued to clarify the situation and once it became clear that this was simply an administrative error that took place at the population office, the hospital bill was cancelled, Mustafa’s status was corrected and the fine was cancelled.
We encounter this all too often, an official ‘status,’ simple as it may sound, is highlight deterministic in the lives of refugees and is open to all sorts of complications. This is why, our case management teams work in 9 different locations of Turkey, ready to respond to urgent matters, help refugees navigate formalities and bureaucratic complications.
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