Türkiye

In Türkiye, children of Syrian refugees have low birth registration rates and as a result may face statelessness. Türkiye currently hosts over 3.5 million Syrian refugees under temporary protection. In 2015, over 60,000 babies had been born in exile in Türkiye and high birth rates among Syrian refugee communities continue to suggest a substantial and growing population of children born in exile. While birth registration is compulsory in the country, the CRC (2023) and CMW (2024) expressed concern that a large number of infants born to Syrians under temporary protection remain unregistered, and issued relevant recommendations. Another reported risk factor for statelessness is the failure to officially register their births in Türkiye due to a complex variety of reasons such as home births, lack of awareness among the parents, and arbitrary practices of the relevant public authorities. Turkish law has a safeguard against statelessness that allows children to acquire Turkish citizenship if they cannot acquire the citizenship of their parents. However, birth certificates and other documents are required to apply. These practical barriers render the legal safeguard ineffective.