Citizenship Reform for Syrian Refugees and Illegal Residents

Considering that the war in Syria will not end soon, it is time to develop new policies. Even if the war ends, the reconstruction of Syria will take a very long time.
 
Ankara believed that the war would be over in a few months. But this did not happen. The number of Syrians in Turkey has exceeded 500,000. Offering food to the Syrians is not enough. New policies should be devised based on the premise that the Syrians will not go back to their country for a long time.
 
The Syrian refugee issue is not the issue of Syria's neighboring countries (Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan) or the cities bordering Syria (particularly Hatay, Gaziantep and Osmaniye) alone. For this reason, responsibility should be shared in this matter. It is now time for Western countries to recognize the Syrians as proper refugees. And Turkey needs to consider how Syrian refugees will be integrated into the Turkish society and adapt to the country's economic and social life.
 
Granting Turkish citizenship to Syrians in Turkey who have not been involved in any criminal activity would be an important social, cultural, political and economic initiative for Turkey. By introducing this “citizenship reform,” which could include 250,000 to 1 million Syrian citizens in Turkey and illegal immigrants, a new, dynamic group of people we could call new Turks would emerge. It should be noted that US President Barack Obama is readying to offer American citizenship to 11 million illegal migrants to revive the American economy.
 
Illegal workers are not a burden for Turkey. They, in an attempt to prove themselves, have to be more industrious than a regular legal worker; therefore, they respect laws, they work harder and they pay greater attention to their work. With citizenship reform, these people would take on a public and legal appearance. Under this reform, Syrian citizens and illegal immigrants who have not been involved in criminal activity should be given work permits and legal residence in the initial stage; when there is successful integration at this phase, successful residents may then be recognized to have a right to citizenship. This reform would turn the Syrian people from consumers into producers. They would move from camps to permanent residences. The current camps could be transformed into admission and evaluation offices for newcomers from Syria.
 
The current aid and benefits should be provided for some time longer to ensure a proper and successful transition; once they receive professional training, the Syrian people would then be ready for employment in industry and agriculture. In this way, those Syrians whose status was illegal would gain legal status in the work market. Regardless of whether they return to their home country after the war in Syria ends, the admission of Syrian people into Turkey as Turkish citizens would contribute to the national interests of both Turkey and Syria. The Syrians who become Turkish citizens would contribute to the political, cultural and economic relations between Syria and Turkey. The recognition of Syrians as Turkish citizens through this citizenship reform would make Turkey determine the world agenda. Through this reform, Turkey would resolve its potential problems with respect to refugee law.
 
Illegal workers from Syria would have legal status after becoming proper Turkish citizens. In this way, it would be possible to ensure they have a good standard of living and pay taxes. Most of the illegal workers in Turkey are from Balkan countries, the Caucasus and Central Asia (Afghanistan and Uzbekistan). This means that most of them are people related to Turks. For this reason, the granting of Turkish citizenship to illegal workers through citizenship reform would ensure enhanced relations between their home countries and Turkey in the political, cultural and economic fields.